Randal Kolo Muani is close to completing a loan move from Paris Saint-Germain to Tottenham, where he will strengthen Thomas Frank’s attacking options and offer insurance against Dominic Solanke’s ankle injury.
Spurs wanted Kolo Muani in January when the France international made a loan move from PSG to Juventus, where he scored eight goals in 16 Serie A appearances.
Juve worked all summer to keep the 26-year-old forward but pulled out of the deal because it was too expensive, with an obligation to buy after another year on loan.
They moved instead to sign Belgium international Lois Openda from Leipzig and gave Spurs the chance to swoop and negotiate a one-season loan with no options or obligations to buy.
Kolo Muani is a versatile striker. He can operate as a centre forward where he will compete with Richarlison and Solanke, who missed Saturday’s defeat against Bournemouth with the ankle injury that ruled him out of most of the preseason schedule and continues to bother him.
Solanke has had an injection to treat the problem and Tottenham hope that together with rest and recuperation it will heal through the international break and he will be available for the next game, at West Ham on Saturday week.
Tottenham have signed Paris St Germain forward Randal Kolo Muani on a season-long loan
The 24-year-old spent much of last season on loan at Juventus where he netted eight goals from 16 Serie A appearances
If the treatment doesn’t work, however, he may need a longer period out and Kolo Muani provides protection against that and Richarlison’s haphazard fitness record.
He also extends Thomas Frank’s attacking options. He is quick and mobile, good in the air and equally capable when deployed through the middle on his own, linking up with a second striker or playing off the flanks.
Kolo Muani also adds experience. He has won trophies and appeared in the Champions League with PSG, reached the German Cup final with Eintracht Frankfurt and has 31 caps and nine goals for France.
Where that leaves Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert though, is unclear. Tottenham turned to Tel when their attempts to sign Kolo Muani failed in January. They signed him on loan from Bayern Munich and made the move permanent for £30million in the summer.
Tel is only 20 years old and with lots of time and scope to develop but he has yet to made much of an impact at Spurs. Nor has Odobert, signed a year ago from Burnley and whose first season in North London was disrupted by a major hamstring injury.
The arrival of Kolo Muani will push both down the pecking order as they will compete for all the same positions.
Brennan Johnson, Muani, Richarlison and Xavi Simons, signed from Leipzig for £51m on Friday, are all capable of playing off the left wing. Although Simons most likely to operate as an attacking midfielder in the number 10 position, at least until Dejan Kulusevski returns from injury in December.
For boss Frank, it will be a welcome addition of extra firepower. With Solanke out on Saturday there was the young talent of Tel, Odobert and Lucas Bergvall among his substitutes but an absence of reliable and experienced attacking options when he needed to change the game.
Meanwhile Bryan Gil is set to join Girona permanently in a deal understood to be worth £8.6million
Signing another French player does not offer a solution to the puzzle Spurs face in the Champions League squad. Their shortage of what UEFA call ‘club trained’ players will leave them lodging a 22-man squad rather than filling the 25 places available ahead of the deadline at 11pm on Tuesday 2 September.
It was a similar situation in the Europa League last season.
Frank can leave out James Maddison who certainly won’t play before the end of the league phase in January, and possibly Kulusevski because it makes sense not to overload him when he returns from serious injury.
Bryan Gil has joined Girona in a deal worth up to £8.6m. Yves Bissouma, who has interest from Fenerbahce, and Manor Solomon, who is a target for Crystal Palace, are also clear to leave.
That still leaves Frank to omit one more, which will boil down to one of centre half Radu Dragusin, not back from a serious knee injury for eight weeks, or one of Tel or Odobert.
Meanwhile Spurs have also sanctioned a deadline day exit for winger Bryan Gil, who is joining Girona.
Gil joined the club in the summer of 2021 from Sevilla as part of a part-exchange deal involving Erik Lamela.
However injuries limited the Spaniard’s involvement and he has returned to LaLiga on loan on three separate occasions.
The 24-year-old spent last season on loan at the City Football Group club and will now return to the Spanish top flight permanently in a deal understood to be worth £8.6million.
