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 and Eintracht said the deal was worth 95 million euros ($103 million).
“It’s great to be back where it all began. Kolo Muani grew up in Paris suburbs and was drawn to the club by its project. “I can’t wait for the opportunity to play in these colours and to start working,” said Muani. “
PSG and Eintracht reportedly agreed terms much earlier in the day, but the deal was frozen because PSG forward Hugo Ekitike rejected three offers to join Eintracht as part of the deal.
Kolo Muani will form an all-French attack alongside World Cup star Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele — 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 Mbappe, refused to train for Eintracht on Wednesday as he pushed for a transfer. He scored 23 times in 46 games last season, and has three goals so far this season. The PSG team has had a slow start to the season, with only four goals and five points in three games. Three of those have been by Mbappe, underlining the team’s over-reliance on him.
The French league’s overall spending this summer rose to 901 million euros ($973 million) while clubs sold for 868 million euros ($937 million)
Last season, top-flight clubs made a marginal profit, buying for 584 million euros ($631 million) and selling for 603 million euros ($651 million).
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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