Why Juventus face an uphill battle to land Kolo Muani deal with PSG and Tottenham

For the third transfer window in a row, Juventus find themselves discussing a potential deal with Paris Saint-Germain for striker Randal Kolo Muani, but the Bianconeri face an uphill battle if they are to lure the Frenchman away from his current loan spell with Tottenham. Here’s why. 

Juventus have been hoping to add a new striker to Luciano Spalletti’s ranks for most of the winter transfer window. Despite the fact that Jonathan David has begun to hit form in Turin, he is not considered the right profile to be a line-leading no.9 for Juventus, nor is Lois Openda. Dusan Vlahovic, meanwhile, remains out injured long term. 

The Bianconeri have been linked with moves for several strikers in January, including the likes of Joshua Zirkzee, Federico Chiesa, Beto and Mateo Pellegrini. 

They had been closest to Fenerbahce’s Youssef En-Nesyri until the weekend. Juve secured an agreement with Fenerbahce, and some reports claimed that there was also an agreement on personal terms in place with the player himself. 

However, updates over the weekend confirmed that the deal had stalled due to the fact that the Morocco international did not want to move to Turin on what could turn out to be just a short-term loan deal. 

This means that Juventus have gone back to the drawing board, and are now considering a reunion with Kolo Muani. 

Kolo Muani joined Juventus on a straight loan deal from PSG last winter. He would go on to average a goal every other game during his short spell in Turin, netting eight times from 16 league appearances in the second half of the 2024-25 campaign. 

Naturally, Juventus were keen to bring the Frenchman back after making such a strong impression towards the end of last season. Given that their loan deal didn’t include an option to buy, and the fact that PSG invested around €90m to sign the player in 2023, negotiations were not particularly straightforward. 

Despite months of negotiations, Juventus were unable to secure an agreement with PSG. They had discussed a new loan deal with a potential obligation to buy before attempting to secure another straight loan deal. 

Those attempts were unsuccessful, which led to Kolo Muani joining Tottenham, again on a straight loan deal, on the final day of the summer transfer window. 

Reports at the time suggested that PSG had grown infuriated with Juventus, particularly with general manager Damien Comolli, due to the breakdown in talks after such a long period of negotiations. 

According to l’Equipe, PSG were always adamant that sending Kolo Muani out on loan would require an obligation to buy clause for around €60m, given the €90m fee that the Parisians spent to sign him from Eintracht Frankfurt a few years ago. 

However, that same report claimed that Juventus attempted to include an obligation to buy for €30m with €10m in bonuses in the event that the Bianconeri qualified for the Champions League. 

This attempted change in strategy left PSG feeling infuriated, and according to reports at the time, Comolli had ‘made enemies’ in Paris as a result. 

After the breakdown in negotiations over the summer, relations between Juventus and PSG are said to not be at their best, which makes a deal in January slightly complicated. 

What is also tricky for Juventus is the fact that Tottenham are unwilling to sanction any outgoings until the end of the transfer window, assuming that they are able to line up replacements first. 

Juventus were reportedly in contact with the relevant parties on Monday, and reports on Tuesday claim that there has been a new round of talks this afternoon as well.