Omar Marmoush is a £50m January deal that Man City rivals would hate

Manchester City are considering Frannkfurt forward Omar Marmoush and Premier League clubs will be eyeing the situation anxiously

Manchester City will have to pay a premium if they want to sign Omar Marmoush this month.

No club wants to lose their players in the middle of a season, and in Frankfurt's case the money that can be made from going far in the Europa League and qualifying for next season's Champions League has to be weighted into losing one of their best players. City's latest financial reports, coupled with the form of the team, mean they are unable to hide the fact that they have a lot of money available to spend to immediately improve their side if they really want to.

There are no guarantees that they will spend in January. The club know a rebuild is needed but have not lost complete faith in the current squad amid hope that the injury crisis will eventually subside and are determined not to throw all of their transfer principles out the window in the hope of a quick fix.

Marmoush looks like he ticks the short- and long-term boxes at City as a proven goalscorer who, at 25, would join a number of players in the City squad that is currently too small of stars in their peak years. There is experience as a forward at the top level, as well as the time to get even better over the next five or six years.

Whether he is worth at least £50m for City to get it done this month is a deal for Txiki Begiristain, but a January transfer will be hated by rival clubs. It isn't even about Marmoush - though Liverpool and Arsenal have been credited with interest - and more about seeing the Blues spend serious money and plan for the future.

None of City's rivals want to see the team get better, and nor do any of them want to see the club spend like it is business as usual at the Etihad. Paying a premium for Marmoush, or any player, is not the behaviour of an organisation that expects a severe punishment from the Premier League when the verdict on the charges the club faces come out this year. City's low net spend in recent years has been used by fans from other clubs to suggest that the Blues are somehow preparing to be found guilty, yet a big January window would point to the opposite.

Little can be read either way in truth, but whether or not Marmoush would be the right signing for City his arrival at the Etihad would go down terribly in Merseyside and North London boardrooms - and not just because they like the player too.