Loan with an obligation to buy: how Marmoush's £60m Spurs deal actually works

Omar Marmoush will wear the No 22 shirt at Tottenham in 2026-27, yet on paper he is still a Manchester City player. Spurs confirmed his arrival in the final week of the summer window as a season-long loan, with a clause that makes the move permanent next summer.

The fee is reported to be £60m, split into a £50m guaranteed payment and £10m in add-ons. For anyone who follows sports betting markets on the Premier League, the structure says more than the headline number. It shows how committed a club really is to a player before he has settled in.

Three ways to borrow a player

A straight loan is the simplest version. The player spends a season at the new club and then goes back. The borrowing club sometimes pays a loan fee on top of wages, although no separate loan fee has been reported in the Marmoush deal.

A loan with an option to buy hands the choice to the borrowing club. If the player flops, they return and nothing more is owed.

A loan with an obligation to buy removes that choice. The permanent fee is agreed up front and becomes payable at the end of the loan. Some obligations only kick in once conditions are met, such as a set number of appearances. ESPN reported that Spurs are committed to buying Marmoush for £60m next year.

When an obligation has a way out

Obligations are not always final. Chelsea took Jadon Sancho on a season-long loan from Manchester United in 2024-25, with a £25m obligation to buy. In June 2025 Sky Sports reported that Chelsea would not take up the obligation and would instead pay United a £5m penalty, after the two sides failed to agree personal terms with the player.

That exit fee was written into the contract. No exit clause of that kind has been reported in the Marmoush agreement.

Why Spurs wanted it this way

The main advantage for Tottenham is timing. The permanent fee is not due until next summer, and Spurs had already spent heavily. ESPN listed Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke, Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi among their summer arrivals, and Savio joined from City days before Marmoush in a deal Sky Sports valued at £85m.

The accounting matters too. Premier League clubs spread a transfer fee across the length of a player's contract, up to a maximum of five years, under a rule the clubs voted through in December 2023. Goal, citing The Athletic, reported that Marmoush has committed to four years in north London with a 12-month extension option. The longer the contract, the smaller the yearly charge that shows up in the club's accounts.

Why City said yes

For Manchester City, a guaranteed sale beats an uncertain one. ESPN reported that the £60m will recover the £59m City paid Eintracht Frankfurt for Marmoush in January 2025. Both Sky Sports and ESPN said there is no sell-on clause owed to Frankfurt, so City keep the full amount. He had also become a fringe player. Marmoush scored 16 goals in 62 games for City, mostly as understudy to Erling Haaland, and he was an unused substitute in their Premier League opener against Bournemouth in August 2026.

What Spurs expect from him

Roberto De Zerbi wants Marmoush to lift his attack. Speaking to Sky Sports after the signing, the Spurs head coach said the forward "can take our attacking play to another level".

Tottenham have taken on the risk that goes with that belief. Most of the fee is locked in whether the move works or not. Of the £60m, £50m is guaranteed, and only the £10m in add-ons depends on what Marmoush does in a Tottenham shirt.