French champion Paris Saint-Germain finally confirmed the signing of Randal Kolo Muani from Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of Friday’s final day of the transfer window. PSG confirmed it 30 minutes after the window shut at midnight, in a deal reportedly worth 90 million euros ($97 million).
“It’s great to be back where it all began. I was attracted by the club’s project,” said Kolo Muani, who grew up in the Paris suburbs. “Now I can’t wait to get to work and finally play in these colors.” PSG and Eintracht reportedly agreed terms much earlier in the day, but the deal was frozen because PSG forward Hugo Ekitiké rejected three offers to join Eintracht as part of the deal.
Kolo Muani will form an all-French attack alongside World Cup star Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé – who all played for Les Bleus at last year’s World Cup – and under-21 winger Bradley Barcola.
Acquiring Kolo Muani is a big boost for new coach Luis Enrique, after losing Argentina’s World Cup winner Lionel Messi to Inter Miami and Brazil forward Neymar to Al Hilal in the cash-rich Saudi Pro League. Those two departures and a raft of players sent out on loan, including left-back Juan Bernat to Portuguese side Benfica, did at least ease PSG’s enormous wage bill.
Kolo Muani, who grew up in the same Bondy suburb as Mbappé, refused to train for Eintracht on Wednesday as he pushed for a transfer. He scored 23 goals in 46 matches last season and started this campaign with three goals in four games. Kolo Muani made an impact when he went on as a substitute during the World Cup final last December. France drew with Argentina 3-3 before losing on penalty kicks.
PSG has made a quiet start to the season with five points from three games and only four goals scored. Three of those have been by Mbappé, underlining the team’s over-reliance on him.
