When Hugo Ekitike went down clutching his leg during Liverpool’s Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, a door creaked open for Randal Kolo Muani.
Ekitike was forced off on a stretcher and looked distraught, seemingly already aware that he had ruptured his Achilles tendon. He will miss the rest of the season and won’t return for at least nine months, condemning him to watch France’s World Cup campaign from a distance.
But his setback is another man’s opportunity. Step forward, Tottenham Hotspur‘s Randal Kolo Muani, who finally, after so many abject performances, has a reason to stand up to be counted this season. If he does, he may well save Spurs from relegation.
However, his spot in Didier Deschamps’ squad is far from a foregone conclusion. Jean-Philippe Mateta and Christopher Nkunku will also be in the running for a place, and it certainly doesn’t help that he has been a shadow of himself in North London.
That has effectively already confirmed that Kolo Muani will be leaving Tottenham at the end of the season, the club having absolutely no plans to turn his loan deal permanent.
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Time for Randal Kolo Muani to step up at Spurs
There are perhaps a handful of Tottenham players who can escape criticism over the club’s woes this campaign. Kolo Muani is not among them. Indeed, he has been one of the biggest disappointments, having failed to make any sort of impression since arriving from PSG.
While there have been flashes of his old self, with his hat-trick against his parent club in the Champions League his only real highlight, he has done little to win hearts, let alone minds. Damningly, supporters have often accused him of looking uninterested during matches.
It quite frankly beggars belief that at a time when Spurs need total commitment, Kolo Muani has one foot out of the door. Fortunately for Roberto De Zerbi, though, the 27-year-old now has no choice but to buck up his ideas, if not for himself or Tottenham but for his country.
He has occasionally stood out. But like too many of his team-mates, he is also guilty of ghosting through games. He played the full 90 minutes in De Zerbi’s first match in charge, the 1-0 defeat by Sunderland, but did nothing to stake his claim for regular starts.
So, how did Tottenham get into this mess in the first place?
Well, in the club’s defence, the deal made perfect sense in the summer. It was telling that he was linked with Manchester United and Chelsea before deciding to move to N17.
Kolo Muani spent the second half of last campaign on loan at Juventus, scoring 10 goals in 22 games. That tally saw him become the first player since Roberto Baggio back in 1990 to net in his first three Serie A matches for the club – an impressive achievement.
He won two Ligue 1 titles with PSG, playing alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Goncalo Ramos and Bradley Barcola at the Parc des Princes.
He is strong, two-footed and good at sniffing out danger across the width of the frontline. It is just a crying shame that he hasn’t proven it at Tottenham.
Kolo Muani has made 35 appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals and registering four assists, but he will ultimately be judged on his Premier League form.
According to FotMob, he has an xG of just 1.82 in the top-flight, having mustered up only three shots on target all season. It goes without saying that this is nowhere near enough to make any sort of impact, especially not for a club teetering over the trap door.
His pass success is just shy of 70 per cent, but he has created 18 chances, suggesting his team-mates have been just as wasteful. But it is his all-round flaws that will worry De Zerbi the most. His meagre dribble success of 34 per cent will be of particular concern.
Despite being renowned for his physicality, he has fallen woefully short on this front in North London, winning 32.9 per cent of his total duels.
Should Tottenham look to keep Kolo Muani?
There are, of course, caveats to Kolo Muani’s dire Tottenham form. They haven’t quite got runners around him as Eintracht Frankfurt did. It is also obvious that every forward has been a victim of the sluggish movement and sterile creativity across the whole team.
But Kolo Muani hasn’t offered as much as Dominic Solanke and Richarlison. The former is more involved in build-up and chance creation, while the latter can conjure up magic from very little. In contrast, the loanee has done next to nothing.
It comes as no surprise that he has no intention of staying at Spurs, and Tottenham will have almost certainly decided not to sign him permanently several months ago.
As soon as his loan deal runs out, he will be on the first flight back to Paris. He will just hope that when he does, he will also be clutching his World Cup plane ticket in his hand.
Whether he will deserve it is a different matter.
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