In Egyptian mythology, the Pharaoh was the mediator between the gods and the human world. After death, a Pharaoh was said to become divine and passed on his sacred powers and position to the new Pharaoh, his son.
Transfer that image to today's football and add a good dose of imagination and you approach the scenario currently unfolding in Liverpool and Frankfurt with Mohamed Salah as the Pharaoh and Omar Marmoush as his possible heir.
With the level of performances Salah has put in since arriving from Roma seven-and-a-half years ago, he has developed into an almost mythical figure at Anfield.
In his last seven seasons at Anfield, he has scored 224 goals and there is little to suggest he is slowing down, although judging purely by his age, the 32-year-old is arguably approaching the autumn of his career.
With that in mind, it's not surprising that Liverpool's management are beginning to explore the options for his replacement, but it's still remarkable that a man in such good form six months before the end of his contract could feel more "out than in."
Egypt's history of strikers
Egypt don't necessarily have a long tradition of creating high-quality forwards. If you go back in history, only two, Mohammed Zidan and Ahmed Hassan (also known as 'Mido'), had the calibre to break through on the international stage.
But while both arrived with huge potential and initially had scouts flocking to FC Midtjylland and Ajax, they ended up jeopardising their careers through a lack of discipline despite spells at respected clubs such as Roma, Borussia Dortmund and Marseille.
So it's particularly interesting that it's two red-hot Egyptians who are currently helping to set European football on fire and the story is made even more spectacular by the fact that Marmoush could quite easily end up being the successor to his famous compatriot at Liverpool, judging by the rumours in the English media.
Only Salah and Marmoush have reached double-digit goals and assists across Europe's top five leagues this season. Normally, Salah is in a class of his own but his national team colleague gatecrashed the party just a day after Salah became the first player to record at least 10 goals and 10 assists this season.
Liverpool's already strong attack
Arne Slot has a healthy choice of in-form strikers at his disposal when selecting the Liverpool team. The likes of Diogo Jota, Luiz Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Federico Chiesa are among the many options, so why is Marmoush being mentioned as a possible solution?
Interestingly, Marmoush doesn't appear to be a direct like-for-like replacement for Salah.
Looking at their stature, Marmoush is slightly taller and heavier, measuring 1.83 metres and weighing 81kg while Salah is 1.75 metres and weighs 73kg. In addition, Salah is slightly faster with a top speed of 36.64 km/h while Marmoush's is 35.14 km/h.
However, it is perhaps through their positions on the pitch that the differences between them become even clearer. Salah is used almost exclusively as a right winger whereas Marmoush is typically used in a two-man attack with Hugo Ekitike and he tends to lean towards the left side of the attack.
At Liverpool, Diaz and Gakpo already feature as the left-sided options, with Nunez and Jota battling for the number nine role. If Marmoush was to fit into one of these categories, it would probably be the latter, where he is somewhat more clinical than Nunez.
Ryan Giggs discovered Marmoush
While a number of factors may indicate that Marmoush could become a Liverpool player in the near future, it is rather ironic that it was Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs who, according to the Egyptian himself, ensured that European football recognised Marmoush's qualities.
Giggs spotted the Egyptian during an under-17 tournament in Dubai, which German consultant and ex-Bundesliga professional Thomas Kroth found out about through his English partner Mike Morris and recommended the Egyptian to Wolfsburg.
The Volkswagen club sent out their scout Pierre Littbarski and finally signed the then 18-year-old Marmoush, who had just made his debut in the Egyptian Premier League for Wadi Degla SC Cairo, after a week of trial training.
Despite the switch, however, it was not an instant success for the Egyptian, who even occasionally sat on the bench for Wolfsburg's second team in the German regional league. At the same time, there were also disciplinary problems that hindered Marmoush's path to the first team.
St. Pauli coach Timo Schulz complained about his unwillingness to help out in defence when Marmoush was on loan at the Hamburg club and Nico Kovac substituted him off after 20 minutes in Wolfsburg's 5-1 win over Bochum in April last year for the same reason.
Repayment for Frankfurt's trust
Marmoush, who scored from a direct free kick in the 3-2 win over Stuttgart on November 10th for the third game in a row, has scored no more than 17 goals in his previous seasons, but this campaign he has already matched that tally.
Despite his obvious talent, which twice earned him the Bundesliga Young Player of the Month award while on loan at Stuttgart from Wolfsburg (2021-2022), he has been used in a variety of positions throughout his career.
At Frankfurt, the club that statistically gets the most for its money of any side in Europe, Marmoush has found his groove and repaid the club for the trust they put in him (which he felt he didn't get at Wolfsburg or other German clubs) as an immediate replacement for Randal Kolo Muani, who left the club for PSG.
This has lifted Eintracht Frankfurt to second place in the German Bundesliga and made the entire football world see Marmoush as the natural successor to his famous compatriot. Now the question is, does the new Pharaoh have the form to follow in the old man's footsteps if a move materialises?