Leeds United exit has just been aided by Manchester City’s £60m Omar Marmoush move

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Manchester City’s eye-watering January splurge might not only have implications for the rest of the Premier League, but for Leeds United too.

Pep Guardiola has parted with around £120 million this month alone.

Alright for some. If you’re team is in decline, as Manchester City clearly are, it’s always nice to have a wallet deeper than the Marianas Trench to fall back on.

Omar Marmoush became City’s third mega-money signing of the window just hours after their Champions League hopes suffered another major blow in Wednesday’s collapse at Paris Saint-Germain.

Marmoush – second only to Egyptian teammate Mo Salah in terms of goals and assists combined across Europe’s major leagues – joins Vitor Reis [a £30 million addition from Palmeiras] and new £33 million central defender Abdokudir Khusanov.

Now, Leeds themselves were linked with ex-Lens stopper Khusanov towards the end of 2024. Daniel Farke’s Championship table-toppers reportedly offered £16.5 million. A fee Lens quickly batted away, in the knowledge that far bigger bids would soon arrive.

But while Man City’s fearsome financial muscle may have ended Leeds’ admittedly slim chances of signing one of the game’s finest young defensive prospects – Abdokudir Khusanov was labelled Europe’s best centre-back under the age of 21 by the CIES Football Observatory – that Marmoush deal could yet serve to boost the Yorkshire giants’ coffers later down the line.

Omar Marmoush to Manchester City could enable Leeds United exit

It is no secret that Frankfurt are likely to pursue a permanent deal for Leeds United loanee Rasmus Kristensen. The Dane has been a big hit at the Commerzbank Arena. While he struggled to win over the Elland Road fanbase, he has had no such difficulties in Germany.

Kristensen played a starring role as Frankfurt beat Borussia Dortmund to strengthen their Champions League credentials last time out.

Even Ballon D’Or winning Germany legend Lothar Matthaus is singing the praises of a man best remembered at Leeds for his role in that heart-breaking relegation season in 2022/23.

A ‘top transfer’, Mathaus says of Kristensen, who could join Frankfurt permanently to the tune of £12.5 million.

The Eagles, Matthaus adds, deserve immense credit having established themselves as one of the most successful clubs around when it comes to signing low, selling high and spinning profits that would make even Alan Sugar blush.

After earning huge sums on the likes of Sebastian Haller, Luka Jovic and Randal Kolo Muani, Omar Marmoush’s £60 million switch to Manchester City makes the free-scoring forward the second-most expensive sale in Frankfurt’s history.

Not only that, it also frees up a staggering amount of funds for re-investment. Funds that will be used to rebuild the attack in Marmoush’s absence, with plenty of pennies left over to turn Kristensen’s loan into a full-time arrangement.

Eintracht Frankfurt now have £60 million to play with after Marmoush exit

“Omar approached us with his wish to move and stressed that it was perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him to play for an absolute top club in the Premier League,” Frankfurt’s much-admired sporting director Markus Krosche explains.

“He has done a lot for Eintracht Frankfurt and played a major role in our sporting development. That is another reason why we have granted his wish.”

Krosche, in comments that may interest Leeds United, then went on to say that Frankfurt will not simply chuck that £60 million windfall at a direct replacement.

Instead, as they also did when moving on from Jovic, Haller and Kolo Muani, the Bundesliga high-flyers will use that cash influx to replenish the squad and improve across the board.

Keeping Kristensen – the Leeds United-owned full-back has become ‘a real leader’ and an ‘absolute hit’ in Germany – is likely to be high on Frankfurt’s list of priorities.

“We will not meet the horrendous expectations of other clubs,” Krosche adds, while making it clear that, just because they have £60 million burning a hole in their back pocket, there will be no paying over the odds at the Commerzbank Arena.

“When we buy players, we have a market-based price. We will not exceed that, so that we do not have to put all our eggs in one basket.

“If someone then thinks they want to get horrendous prices from us, that is not possible. Then, we will do something else.”