Enzo Maresca has insisted that Omar Marmoush will decide if his future lies at Manchester City.
Marmoush has struggled for Premier League starts since joining City from Eintracht Frankfurt in January 2025, making only 22 in total with 15 further appearances from the bench.
The 27-year-old striker has scored 10 league goals but has played second fiddle to Erling Haaland and that is unlikely to change under new manager Maresca.
Marmoush scored twice in Sunday’s 3-1 friendly win over Atlético Madrid in Seoul, with Maresca later comparing the Egyptian’s situation to that of goalkeeper James Trafford who left for Leeds last week after being starved of first-team opportunities.
Asked about Marmoush’s future, Maresca said: “The answer has to be similar to the one I answer about James Trafford.
“Players work every day, they want to play so when they don’t play they are not happy.
“Omar did not play a lot last year so his desire is probably to play more minutes.
“It doesn’t mean that he isn’t going to play more minutes here but it’s also his decision, and he needs to decide.”
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Haaland, Rodri and Rayan Cherki have missed City’s preseason trip to Asia, as have England trio Elliot Anderson, Marc Guéhi and Nico O’Reilly, following their involvement at the World Cup.
But Maresca said: “I’m very happy. Especially because the players since we started have been open-minded.
“They want to understand and want to learn why we do things.
“I know that when you join a new club you try to install new patterns or different ideas. The most important thing is we are getting better.
“The path is a huge path to improve things. But I can see we are trying what we do in training, and we are getting better at that.”
