Liverpool is still biding its time in the transfer market, and January is looking increasingly likely to come and go without any additions. The same cannot be said of some of the Reds' rivals, however, with Manchester City recently confirming Omar Marmoush as its third major signing.

Of course, Liverpool would not trade places with its chief foe of recent seasons. Arne Slot has his side top of the Premier League and the Champions League, with Pep Guardiola well adrift in the former competition, and in danger of crashing out of the latter.

Likewise, the Anfield faithful would happily accept a quiet January if it meant progress on the contract front. In particular, a new deal for Mohamed Salah would be welcomed more warmly than any transfer.

READ MORE: ‘I work with Liverpool’s best young players and Arne Slot should be excited for the future’

READ MORE: Liverpool secures $744M victory as Arsenal overtake easily explained

It has been an exceptional season for Salah so far. If he continues at a similar pace, all sorts of records could fall, and it might even go down as a better campaign than his scintillating debut year.

There is no doubt that he has lived up to his name as the Egyptian King in his time at Anfield. But there are those within the game that have wondered whether Marmoush, 26 next month, could be his successor.

Manchester City has certainly leaned into that possibility. "City's Egyptian Prince," the club social accounts blared as the transfer was completed, in a subtle but pretty undeniable reference to Salah.

The post was even adorned with the Egyptian flag followed by a crown emoji. That same formula has been used countless times to describe Salah.

Are there similarities between the players? Not especially — Marmoush arrives from Eintracht Frankfurt with a reputation as a clinical number nine, and while he also has an impressively creative side to his game, it's hard to imagine he would be getting compared to Salah at all were it not for his nationality.

Observers have repeatedly tried to talk themselves into the idea that Salah operates as a de facto striker at Liverpool, because his goal record is otherwise so hard to comprehend. But the truth is that the Liverpool talisman is, and more or less always has been, a true right winger.

Salah himself has poured cold water on the comparison to Marmoush. "Omar has great potential and is important for his team and the national team," he said last year. "But I want people to stop comparing him to me so he doesn’t feel the pressure — let him carve his own path."

Manchester City (or at least its social media department) appears to have no such concerns about pressure. If he has even a tenth of the Premier League career that Salah has already had, he will go down as a decent addition.

Liverpool.com says: At least Man City went with Prince rather than King! But it still seems to pile unnecessary expectations on a forward who already has a big price tag on his head, and is faced with the challenge of impressing in the shadow of Erling Haaland.