Man City's £59m transfer decision can offer money can't buy boost to dethrone Mo Salah and Liverpool

The scenes were seismic. The joy unfounded. Players, staff, supporters, indeed the whole country, celebrating an achievement that had been 27 years in the making. The cheers in the stadium were echoed by car horns outside.

The year was 2017 and Egypt had ended a World Cup drought that had spanned nearly three decades and contained several near misses. All of that was forgotten when Mo Salah slotted home a penalty to earn a 2-1 win over Congo and a place in Russia 2018.

It was a seminal moment for a football-mad country.

Omar Marmoush likely watched on from Germany. He was a burgeoning talent making his way in the development squad at Wolfsburg and already representing Egypt at youth level.

Now the Manchester City new boy is spearheading his country's bid for a repeat visit to the world stage in America next year.

Egypt flopped in 2018 and missed out four years later. Now an expanded tournament means an increased chance of reaching the States. Ten points from their opening four games of a 10-match group has the Pharaohs in pole position to seal the sole automatic spot.

It could be a changing of the guard tournament. Salah will be 34 by then and the Liverpool striker is one of the most recognisable names in world football and as such one of the most commercially viable. He has a spate of deals with global brands and is the Arab world’s most recognisable sportsman.

Marmoush looks the heir apparent. The two have similar characteristics on the pitch and similar journeys off it.

Salah came to England, struggled to breakthrough with Chelsea and took in spells in Serie A with Fiorentina and Roma before reaching stratospheric heights with Liverpool. He was 25 when he moved to Anfield, the same age Marmoush was upon joining