Randal Kolo Muani: From Unwanted at PSG to Scoring for Fun at Juventus
They say one of the first rules of being a football fan is not to fall in love with a loan player. After Randal Kolo Muani’s start at Juventus, it will be hard for fans of the Old Lady not to fall in love with the French forward. He has taken to Italian football like a duck to water with him and Juventus reaping the rewards, and he has been arguably the best January signing in Serie A alongside Assane Diao, who has excelled since trading Betis for Como.
Juventus were struggling for goals and consistency at the attacking end of the pitch and wanted to add more in depth and attack with something different. Dušan Vlahović has been very inconsistent for Juventus in front of goal with nine goals in 22 appearances in Serie A and four goals in nine games in the UEFA Champions League. But with the goals Vlahović has gone on streaks of three, four and five games without a goal in games this season.
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That is when Juventus acted in late January and went out and purchased Randal Kolo Muani on loan from PSG. The French attacker had found his game time in Paris limited with just two starts and eight substitute appearances in Ligue 1. He also found himself out of the PSG squad all together for the final four games before his departure from France to Italy. A move for both parties temporary at this stage was the best for both parties.
Since joining Juventus, Randal Kolo Muani has hit the ground running and has added something different to the Juventus attack. A new dynamism has been added to Juventus style of play they can play balls in behind the opposition defence and use Kolo Muani pace. When playing with Vlahović up front and leading the line, the Serbian likes the ball to feet and likes to be intercut and bring in others into play.
In his eight appearances so far in Serie A for Juventus, Randal Kolo Muani has five goals and an assist and fitted in nicely. A goal away in Naples just forty-one minutes into his debut in a 2-1 defeat to Napoli kicked off his Juventus career. He started the next three Serie A games with four goals with back-to-back braces against Empoli and Como.
But the cherry on top was the assist in the Derby D’Italia at home to Inter. The French international brought down the ball on the edge of the area, danced his way past the Inter defence with trickery and a roulette. The ball fell to Portuguese winger Francisco Conceição who calmly slotted home from inside of the area, cue pandemonium at the Allianz Stadium.
The Frenchman’s next appearance for Juventus in Serie A was from the substitute bench away in Sardinia against Cagliari. Juventus won the game 1-0 thanks to Vlahović’s first half goal. Kolo Muani came on for a twenty-eight-minute cameo and played on the right side of the attack in a 4-2-3-1, something different from what we have seen previously with Kolo Muani at Juventus.
His versatility of playing in all three positions in attack could help Juventus in the second half of the season. Since getting knocked out by PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Champions League, Juve have beaten Cagliari 1-0 courtesy of Vlahović’s early goal, a match which saw Kolo Muani replace Conceição with a half-hour left.
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Kolo Muani then returned to the starting line-up and thrived on the right side of attack, grabbing four key passes, winning eight out of 12 ground duels, and completing four out of six dribbles, winning three fouls, and setting up Khéphren Thuram’s equalizer, and converting his spot-kick; however, Juventus would end up losing on penalties to Empoli and exit the Coppa Italia at the quarterfinal stage.
They bounced back by edging Hellas Verona 2-0 via goals from Thuram and Teun Koopmeiners, with Kolo Muani leading the line at the expense of Vlahović. The next two matches would see him get the start over Vlahović at the center forward position, with Juve suffering a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Atalanta and a 3-0 defeat to Fiorentina.
With just nine matches remaining, Juve currently sit fifth in the Serie A table, one point above Lazio, three points above Roma, and one point behind Bologna. A Scudetto chase is no longer possible for Thiago Motta’s side, but one thing’s for sure: if they are to qualify for the Champions League, they’ll need Kolo Muani to continue chipping in and delivering the goods in attack.
By: Scot Munroe / @scot_munroe
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Icon Sport