Tottenham Hotspur snapped up Randal Kolo Muani on transfer deadline day, but one expert has some reservations over his arrival.
Tottenham Hotspur wanted attacking additions before the transfer deadline, and managed to bring in two impressive signings.
Xavi Simons joined Tottenham from RB Leipzig on Friday as Thomas Frank finally landed a new playmaker.
Tottenham had suffered frustration on that front, with Morgan Gibbs-White staying at Nottingham Forest and Arsenal winning the race for Eberechi Eze.
The push for attacking improvements didn’t end with Simons, though, as Tottenham landed Randal Kolo Muani in the final hours of the window.
Kolo Muani joins Tottenham on loan from Paris Saint-Germain and arrives after an impressive spell with Juventus last season.
Julien Laurens on Randal Kolo Muani to Tottenham Hotspur
PSG paid big money for Kolo Muani in 2023, but his time in the French capital has not gone to plan.
Kolo Muani never really clicked under Luis Enrique and managed just eight goals in 36 Ligue 1 appearances.
Juventus took Kolo Muani on loan in January and the move to Italy worked wonders for the French international, as he bagged 10 goals in 22 games.
The 26-year-old now heads to North London to bolster Tottenham’s attack, but French football expert Julien Laurens has his doubts.
Speaking on ESPN, French football expert Laurens suggested that Kolo Muani is a good player and a ‘good kid’, highlighting his ability to run and press.
Laurens thinks signing Kolo Muani on loan is ‘not a bad deal’ for Tottenham, and he also praised the forward’s mentality.
However, Laurens questions whether Kolo Muani ‘moves the needle’ for Tottenham, believing that he wouldn’t have changed the game against Bournemouth last weekend.
Laurens noted that Kolo Muani is not clinical or particularly technically gifted, and may not be the man to improve Spurs in the Champions League.
Paris Saint-Germain were happy to move Kolo Muani on, with Laurens suggesting that he simply wasn’t able to perform as Luis Enrique wanted in attack.
“It’s not a bad deal for Spurs,” said Laurens.
“He’s a good player, he’s a good kid, really. Not the most clinical, not the most gifted technically too, but he started well at Juventus, he can play in different positions, he runs, he can press, he’s got the right mentality… but I’m not sure how much him arriving at the club, and yes, there is Richarlison and Solanke, and I can see him playing ahead of them if he does better and he takes his chances, I’m just not sure how much this moves the needle for Spurs in this huge season where they will be back in the Champions League.
“As we saw against Bournemouth, they were so inoffensive. I’m not sure Kolo Muani, if you bring him in instead of Richarlison in the team that lost to Bournemouth, changes this.
“I don’t think Luis Enrique really ever wanted him, it was very much the club… ‘let’s bring the Paris kids back to Paris’, because he’s Paris born and bred, and that was the idea at the time. Kylian was still at the club, and Kolo Muani and Mbappe are close friends, I think that played a part as well.
“Very quickly, Luis Enrique and, to be fair, everybody else, realised that he just could not do the things that Luis Enrique wanted from his number nine,” he added.
Randal Kolo Muani takes rare Tottenham Hotspur shirt number
Kolo Muani excelled in his last loan move and would love to replicate his Juventus form in a Tottenham shirt.
The Frenchman’s shirt number at Tottenham has already been confirmed, and it’s one we don’t see very often.
Xavi Simons landed his dream shirt number by taking Son Heung-min’s number seven shirt, but this is the first time Kolo Muani has worn number 39, according to Transfermarkt.
Transfermarkt also note that there have only been nine players to wear number 39 at Tottenham in the Premier League era.
Gavin Kelly, Andy Barcham, Jonathan Woodgate, Danny Rose, Adam Smith, Alex Pritchard, Cristian Ceballos, Shayon Harrison and Japhet Tanganga are the only players to don number 39 for Spurs.
Kolo Muani will join that list and will hope to enjoy more success in a Spurs shirt than the majority of players mentioned.