Randal Kolo Muani to PSG: How has the deal worked out?

€95m signing 

Randal Kolo Muani from Eintracht Frankfurt to Paris Saint-Germain was one of the noisiest transfers of the summer. After joining the Bundesliga side just one summer earlier on a free transfer from Nantes, the 24-year-old striker felt ready for the next step after scoring 26 goals and 17 assists in 50 games across all competitions for Die Eintracht. But Frankfurt were steadfast, they wanted close to €100m for Kolo Muani, who, after all, was part of the France squad that reached the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup where they lost in penalties to Argentina. 

Although desperate to sign Kolo Muani, PSG was unwilling to play ball at first, offering a package that didn’t meet Frankfurt’s demands. As a result, time tracked on, and the end of the transfer window came closer and closer. Kolo Muani, in the meantime, tried to force a move and left Frankfurt to hide in Paris. “The way it happened was perhaps not the best way,” Eintracht Frankfurt captain and former PSG goalkeeper Kevin Trapp said as part of last week’s roundtable. “That’s for sure. But we always knew him as a good guy, and he was never a bad teammate. The way it went down in the last week of the transfer window wasn’t amazing for anybody. It wasn’t good for him because he didn’t know what would happen. We didn’t know whether we are going to have a striker or not. It was difficult for everybody.”

Although unhappy with how it went down, Trapp understood his former teammate. “We don’t need to talk about Paris,” Trapp said when asked about Kolo Muani’s transfer. “They have ambitions to win the Champions League. He is from there, and his teammates from the French national team in Paris. I think the reasons why he wanted to go there are more than understandable.” Trapp himself has been there. From 2015 to 2018, the now 33-year-old played 91 games across all competitions for the French giants. “I think players from Eintracht Frankfurt are always interesting,” Trapp said. 

Kolo Muani from Frankfurt to PSG – How has the move worked out?

Indeed, Eintracht Frankfurt thanks to their 2022 Europa League run and appearance in the Champions League last season, are one of the emerging clubs in German football. That position allowed them to remain steadfast and receive a club record €95m for the French star striker last summer. Furthermore, the transfer hasn’t really slowed down Frankfurt, who are once again firmly within the top 6 of German football. But what about Kolo Muani? Kolo Muani has scored just three goals and two assists in 11 games across all competitions for the Ligue 1 champions.

Although Kolo Muani has featured in every single Ligue 1 game he has been eligible for, the 24-year-old only started three of them and was brought on in the other four. The numbers are slightly better in the Champions League, where Kolo Muani has started in every single game but scored only once in the 3-0 win over Milan on matchday 3.  Of course, it is still too early to evaluate the transfer fully, and there has also been some good news. Although not a regular scorer yet, Kolo Muani is third in Ligue 1 with 1.61 smart passes per 90 minutes. Only his teammates Kylian Mbappé (2.24) and Ousmane Dembélé (1.78) have been more productive in that category. Kolo Muani also ranks second among all Ligue 1 players with 0.46 assists per 90 minutes.

Those numbers are encouraging as the forward started his prolific Eintracht career as a provider before becoming a consistent goalscorer. The fact Kolo Muani is already contributing to a potent PSG attack shows that it will be only a matter of time before the French international achieves a breakthrough. And that will be crucial. After all, PSG was not just a dream move but also a transfer with a significant outlay that needs to be justified sooner rather than later. 

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