There was a moment shortly after Jack Grealish signed for Manchester City back in 2021 when he walked into the dressing room at the Etihad Stadium to see his new shirt for the first time.

It bore the number ten - a number Grealish wasn't expecting to receive, especially as City were chasing Harry Kane that summer and were also hopeful of signing Erling Haaland in the future.

Since then, Haaland has taken Gabriel Jesus' number nine, and back-up striker Julian Alvarez has vacated his number 19 (which has since been taken by Ilkay Gundogan). Now, with another striker targeted in Omar Marmoush, the shirt number roulette could continue this month.

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Giving Marmoush a high profile number won't make or break any transfer, of course, but Grealish has shown the boost it can give to an incoming player.

Marmoush currently wears number seven for Eintracht Frankfurt and has previously been 33, 17, 19 and 22. If he wants to revisit any previous number for sentimental reasons, only 17 is taken by City talisman Kevin De Bruyne.

Of those numbers, seven is the most high profile and would give Marmoush the status he currently has in Germany. Alternatively, Marmoush wears number 22 for Egypt so could opt for that one which is also vacant at City.

If Marmoush is worth his £50m valuation, it would be an addition worthy of the number seven which has been vacant since Joao Cancelo's permanent exit in the summer. Summer signing Savinho opted to take Riyad Mahrez's former number 26 rather than number seven which has often been associated with wingers. And that could free the number up for Marmoush.

Frankfurt say only 'something extraordinary' will persuade them to part with Marmoush this month, which tells City he is available for the right price. There is far from any guarantees he will sign this month - but if he does, his perfect shirt number is waiting for him to provide an early boost and show of confidence from City.