Randal Kolo Muani after signing for PSG. (Credit: Twitter)
The 24-year-old forward, who hails from the Paris suburbs, has been continuously pursued by PSG and the club confirmed shortly after the transfer window closed that he had signed a five-year contract at the Parc des Princes.
After a long winding saga, which saw drama spill over from all sides, Paris Saint-Germain have finally gotten their man. But, it sure came at a steep price. The French champions completed the signing of young striker Randal Kolo Muani from Eintracht Frankfurt for a whopping 90 million euros.
The 24-year-old forward, who hails from the Paris suburbs, has been continuously pursued by PSG and in a nail-biter of a deadline day, the club confirmed shortly after the transfer window closed that he had signed a five-year contract at the Parc des Princes.
Frankfurt had been clear about their demands regarding the transfer fee of their striker, setting the lowest price tag at atleast 80 million euros to garner any interest. And they will be glad to part ways with Muani now as the German side got PSG to agree to a fee totalling 90 million euros in order to let go of the Frenchman and complete the signing.
“We are happy to welcome Randal Kolo Muani – French international and Paris native – to Paris Saint-Germain. He joins his city, his house. We have worked hard to achieve this transfer. Randal is a fantastic player, who plays for his country, and who is 100% involved in our project. I can’t wait to see Randal wear the colors of PSG, and give everything for the Club,” said Nasser Al-Khelaifi, President of Paris Saint-Germain.
The Kolo Muani-PSG saga through the summer reached its tipping point when the Frenchman missed training with Frankfurt this week whilst confirming “his desire to be transferred to another club before the transfer window ends on Friday evening”.
Kolo Muani, who signed for the Bundesliga club from Nantes only a year ago, has been somewhat of a revelation for the German side last season.
From an unknown young talent to becoming a pivotal and feared striker, Muani took his game to another level, becoming the hottest prodigy of the previous Bundesliga season. An exceptional combination of speed and goal-poaching ability, Kolo Muani made 43 appearances for Frankfurt last season across all competitions and netted 23 goals in total while providing 17 assists.
But in the midst of all that had transpired recently, he played no part in Eintracht’s 2-0 home win over Bulgarian side Levski Sofia on Thursday that saw them seal a place in the Europa Conference League group stage.
However, up until Friday morning Frankfurt had rejected PSG’s proposals for the player.
It was understood that the Ligue 1 side had attempted to offer their out-of-favour forward Hugo Ekitike to Eintracht as part of any deal, but to no avail.
PSG’s need to pursue Muani stems from two trains of thought: one being that of pairing the youngster with the likes of his other French international teammates, Kylian Mbappe and newly-acquired Ousmane Dembele, and another being that of attempting to revamp their attack in the case that talisman striker Kylian Mbappe left the club.
Any chances of Mbappe leaving PSG in this transfer window faded after he returned to Luis Enrique’s team in August, ending a contract dispute that had dominated headlines all summer in France.
Kolo Muani’s arrival means PSG have spent in the region of 350 million euros on new signings in this window.
