Not only are Manchester City pushing for a Champions League spot at the end of the season and looking to win the FA Cup, but they are in the final throes of Kevin De Bruyne’s City career.
What an incredible decade it has been for the Belgian in Sky Blue. They have had an incredible amount of success, with De Bruyne at the heart of it all. He has made 414 appearances for the club so far, scoring 106 goals and grabbing an outrageous 176 assists. The peak of the project was in 2022/23, when they won the treble.
Now, City have the unenviable job of replacing the 33-year-old and have already been linked to Morgan Gibbs-White as an option.
The latest on Man City's pursuit of Gibbs-White
It certainly seems as though the Citizens could go all in for Nottingham Forest’s talismanic midfielder, Gibbs-White.
The 25-year-old has been sensational in Garibaldi Red this term, which could earn him a move to the current Premier League champions.
According to the highly reputable David Ornstein, the East Mancunian outfit is one of the players ‘among multiple options’ on City’s list, with players they ‘will consider to replace’ De Bruyne this summer. Another name mentioned was Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz.
It has been an excellent campaign for Gibbs-White in 2024/25, with him and his Forest teammates looking set to qualify for the Champions League.
In total, he has five goals and nine assists in 27 games. City were on the end of one of those assists, a superb cross-field pass to Callum Hudson-Odoi which the winger was able to score from.
At this stage, a price for the England international is unclear. However, he is valued at a price as high as £59m by Football Transfers, and the Citizens could have to pay as much as that if they want to sign him this summer.
Incredibly, Pep Guardiola’s side have a player in a similar position worth even more than Gibbs-White.
Man City's "freak" talent could save them millions on Gibbs-White
In and around the England set-up, the signing of Gibbs-White could certainly be a wise one for City who need to replace De Bruyne and hand the likes of Phil Foden and Jack Grealish more competition.
However, they may already have someone who can fill in behind the striker.
Indeed, it was a busy January transfer window for the Citizens, with Omar Marmoush being one of the headline signings for £59m from Eintracht Frankfurt. The Egyptian, described as a “freak” by football scout Antonio Mango, has hit the ground running at the Etihad Stadium and could be someone who helps to replace the output of the departing De Bruyne.
In just 13 appearances for the East Mancunian outfit so far, Marmoush already has six goals and an assist. That included an unstoppable hat-trick against Newcastle United, with all three goals coming in a span of 15 minutes.
One of the impressive things about the former Eintracht Frankfurt star is his ability to play across the frontline. He has already featured as a left-winger and a number 10, the same position as Gibbs-White plays. In Erling Haaland’s absence due to injury, Marmoush has also slotted in at centre-forward.
It has been a fantastic campaign for the 26-year-old so far with the new City recruit on fire for Eintracht before his move to the Premier League, scoring 20 goals and assisting 14 in just 26 games.
With that being said, it might be no surprise that his underlying numbers on FBref compared to other forwards this season are exceptional.
For example, per 90 minutes, he averages 1.06 goals and assists and 0.86 goal-creating actions, which rank him in the top 3% and 1% of attackers, respectively.
Goals and assists
1.06
97th
Key passes
1.92
97th
Shot-creating actions
4.89
99th
Goal-creating actions
0.86
97th
Take-ons completed
1.97
98th
Marmoush’s talent is undeniable, and he has the numbers to back it up. Thus his value has shot up even from the time he joined City. As per Football Transfers, the attacker is now valued at £75.m.
That is almost £20m more than what City paid for him just weeks ago, and almost £20m more than what Gibbs-Whote is valued at. It is safe to say that the signing of the Egypt star has been a good piece of business from the Citizens, who certainly struck gold on this deal.
Bigger talent than De Bruyne: Man City lead race to sign £87m "superstar"
Manchester City have a huge task in replacing Kevin De Bruyne this summer but have wasted no time in the window.
ByEthan LambApr 8, 2025