According to the "Manchester Evening News" report, Malmouche may miss Manchester City's 11 games due to the African Cup. In order to prevent Haaland from being overburdened, Manchester City may arrange for Foden to play as a pseudo-cen...
According to the "Manchester Evening News" report, Malmouche may miss Manchester City's 11 games due to the African Cup. In order to prevent Haaland from being overburdened, Manchester City may arrange for Foden to play as a pseudo-center or use two teenagers.
Egyptian forward Marmouche joined Manchester City in January this year and has been serving as Haaland's substitute. This season Malmouche has started 2 times in the Premier League and made 4 substitute appearances. He also got some playing opportunities in the cup and scored 1 goal in the League Cup. But Malmouche will represent the Egyptian national team in the African Cup of Nations from December this year to January next year.
This Africa Cup of Nations will be held from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026, and the Egyptian national team is negotiating with Manchester City Club. It is hoped that Malmouche can return to the national team early to participate in Egypt's warm-up match against Nigeria on December 14, which happens to be the Premier League match between Manchester City and Crystal Palace.
If Manchester City agrees to Malmouche returning home early to prepare for the game, once Egypt reaches the African Cup finals, Malmouche will miss Manchester City's 11 games. These include 7 Premier League games, 2 League Cup games (if Manchester City can advance to the next round), 1 FA Cup game, and 1 Champions League game (January 20, but Malmouche is unlikely to return to the club just after the African Cup).
Although Malmouche was only a substitute in the Premier League and Champions League games, he could have started for Manchester City in the League Cup and FA Cup, and also gave Haaland some rest opportunities. However, during Malmouche's participation in the World Cup, Manchester City will experience 11 games in 38 days. It is obviously impossible for Haaland to play in all these games. Coach Guardiola needs to find an alternative plan for the striker.
"Manchester Evening News" stated that during that period, Foden may play a guest role as a false 9 and rotate Haaland in some games. Foden has already tried playing as a false 9 center in the England national team's World Cup qualifying matches this month, so he is no stranger to this position.
In addition, two 18-year-old young players Mukasa and Sangare may get opportunities in the Manchester City first team. Mukasa's most accustomed position is not center, but he played center in Manchester City's League Cup match against Huddersfield in September this year and performed well. In addition, he returned to the midfield position in Manchester City's League Cup match against Swansea. Sangare joined Manchester City from Paris Saint-Germain this summer and has not yet participated in a first-team game for Manchester City. However, he is a forward player. He has played 14 times in the Manchester City youth team this season and scored 9 goals.
