“I’m making my dream come true
,” rejoiced the neo-Parisian Randal Kolo Muani at the start of the season.
A dream that takes on the appearance of a nightmare.
In any case, everything is not going as planned for the ex-Nantes player, recruited for €95 million last summer, at the end of the transfer window, after a (very) good season in Frankfurt (26 goals, 17 assists) .
So beautiful that it opened the doors to the French team for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
€95 million, an obviously substantial amount.
“It’s hard to digest.
It's another pressure for me to take on.
I’m digesting it little by little
,” he said at the beginning of February, in an interview with
Onze Mondial
.
And added:
“Over time, people will say that it was a good price for Randal Kolo Muani”
.
In the meantime, the said Randal Kolo Muani must be satisfied with the crumbs... and the criticism.
To discover
Calendar and results Ligue 1
Ligue 1 ranking
Regularly in the 11 at the start of the season, with Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, the native of Bondy now arrives behind Bradley Barcola and Gonçalo Ramos, the latter having recently regained credit in the eyes of Luis Enrique.
Not to mention Dembélé and Mbappé, although the case of the latter has been special since the announcement of his departure at the end of the season.
Holder at Anoeta in the Champions League, against Real Sociedad (1-2), and against Nice (3-1), in the Coupe de France,
“
KM
”
is anything but certain to start in Montpellier this Sunday (8:45 p.m.), during the 26th day of Ligue 1.
Read alsoChampions League: PSG, all dreams are allowed
It's not an NGO, it's a football club.
Luis Enrique
“Sooner or later, we will have to learn to play without him
,” regularly insists the Asturian coach, who made only three changes against the Aiglons on Wednesday, leaving
“
RKM
”
stuck on the substitutes’ bench.
“It’s not an NGO, it’s a football club.
If the coach has confidence in you, great, if not, train even harder, prepare better and take advantage of the minutes I give you.
Whether I like it or not, it doesn't matter to me
,” he said, readily recognizing that
“it's normal that players who play less are not happy.
If you ask those who were on the bench, those who did not come on the field, they must be very angry, but the objective is that the team wins, that the players, when they sign for the club, are ready to give their best.
This is done in matches but also in training, I am very attentive to what happens in training
.
A priori, what the 53-year-old Spaniard sees does not satisfy him, at least not enough.
And this even if he praised
“his impeccable and impeccable attitude and behavior”
in February.
Fortunately for Kolo Muani, PSG has a significant lead in Ligue 1, with 10 points ahead of Brest in the standings at the end of the previous day.
Enough to invite Luis Enrique to spin, spin a lot.
The vice-world champion even made four consecutive starts in the championship (Brest, Strasbourg, Lille, Nantes), scoring two goals in the process.
On the other hand, in decisive matches, in the European Cup or the Coupe de France, the playing time of the person concerned is much reduced.
And Kolo Muani came off the bench in the last three L1 matches.
In total, he still played around thirty matches for a total of nine goals, with three assists as a bonus.
However, this is not a first option for his trainer, that is clear.
Read also “The comeback was for nothing”: Luis Enrique returns to PSG-Barça
Ups…and especially downs
His performance is average at best.
Far from the level displayed with Eintracht in 2022-23.
And this even if Luis Enrique brushes aside any controversy about his place in the food chain of attackers and his playing time by recalling that the vice-world champion “
played 1600 minutes (1531 in fact, Editor’s note) at the highest level in his first season, in a situation and facing competition that he has never experienced before.
I'm very happy with him, I like him a lot.
He plays inside, on the sides… I know how to use him.
I invite him to give his all when he plays.
(he corrects himself) Actually, no need to invite him, he always does.
Same thing in training.
And he will progress further, this is valid for all players
.”
Thilo Kehrer against Randal Kolo Muani, a veteran of the house against a newcomer.
VALERY HACHE / AFP
Of which act.
We still see that Randal Kolo Muani had much more space to express himself and show his speed in Germany.
His teammates were looking for him more and better, in movement, in depth.
His trainer put him in the best conditions.
“It’s up to me to continue working, to listen to the coach’s instructions
,” he said after a goal against Nantes at the end of 2023, acknowledging having had
“a lot of down times”
since his arrival.
“It’s up to me to raise my head, I do it slowly and it’s up to me to concentrate on the work.
There is competition, we are in a big club and it will be up to me to prove myself,”
he explained again, saying he was ready to evolve in all positions:
“On the right, on the left or in front, as long as I’m on the pitch, it’s up to me to give the best of myself
. ”
A state of mind which is still his today according to
L'Équipe
: the 25-year-old player
"did not give up and he intends to return to his best level"
, whisper those close to him to the sports daily.
“
RKM
”
would also have no intention of leaving Paris-SG this summer.
No more than the Parisian leaders want to separate themselves from the rest.
Remember that the two parties are linked until 2028 and that the cards will be reshuffled next summer, with the departure of Kylian Mbappé.
PSG expects
“world-class players”
.
To see to what extent this big upheaval could serve the interests of the international with 13 selections (2 goals).
Also read: Marquinhos on PSG-Barça: “There were good times… and not so good times”
The two are linked: to have confidence, you need playing time.
Didier Deschamps
After the rain comes the good weather, as the saying goes.
It remains to be seen when this clearing will arrive... The French team already represents one, punctual but which will do good.
Despite limited playing time at the club, Randal Kolo Muani remains in Didier Deschamps's little papers.
He is among the 23 to face Germany (March 23) and Chile (March 26).
“It has already happened to other players, not just French players, by the way,” explains the coach, regarding his foal’s difficulties in Paris. When Olivier Giroud was at Chelsea, it was very complicated... Afterwards, there is the potential of the player and the confidence that I can give because of what they have done. They may all have more difficult times. This is valid for Kolo. I could take another example with Dayot Upamecano (Bayern), who we cannot say is in a very happy period for him. Is this the Dayot of today or what he was able to do before? I take these circumstances into account. The two are linked: to have confidence, you need playing time"
, notes "DD", adding that Kolo Muani also has his versatility,
"this ability to play in the three offensive positions, in the axis but also on both sides
.
Since the start of the season, Deschamps has started against Germany (1-2 defeat), the Netherlands (2-1) and Greece (2-2), with a goal to boot. against the Hellenes, his second in Blue.
Randal Kolo Muani has confidence with the Tricolores, he who was so close to giving them the coronation against Argentina, in Lusail, in December 2022.
“I will always be the guy who missed the face-to-face facing in the World Cup final.
It’s for life
,” he whispered recently.
It is up to him to write his story.
If he does not want to
“stick (his) nose in (the) affairs”
of Luis Enrique, former coach of the Spain team, Didier Deschamps still allowed himself to express a wish:
“S “He can give Kolo Muani some playing time, that would suit me a little
. ”
Maybe at La Mosson, before the truce?