Tottenham Hotspur don’t have any transfer targets wrapped and under their Christmas tree this season (understandable since the transfer window doesn’t open until New Year’s Day) but we are starting to get a few half-baked but still somewhat plausible rumors that are beginning to emerge.
Take this one, from Florian Plettenberg. According to good ol’ Plettigoal, Tottenham are one of a few teams “interested” in potentially bringing in 26-year old PSG wide forward Randal Kolo Muani next month.
It’s an interesting rumor. Kolo Muani came through at Nantes but broke through in his one full season at Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022-23, where he scored 15 goals and had 11 assists. That earned him a transfer to PSG, where he has mostly stagnated and disappointed. He had 6g+5a in 1200 minutes last season for the French giants, and this year has 2g+1a in just 358 minutes. PSG are ready to offload him, potentially on loan next month, though Plettenburg notes that they’re likely to demand a purchase obligation.
His stats are also interesting — looking at the wide forward profile his goals are down, but his npxG is high, and he does like to take on his defenders. He’s also a creative player who racks up plenty of assists. Seems like with a little time he could be a good fit for Ange-Ball.
Tottenham are very much in the “these other clubs are also interested” part of the rumor, so the actual links to him are pretty thin. That said, he’d be an interesting signing. He plays a very similar role to Richarlison in that he’s equally comfortable up top and in a left sided wide forward role. Ability-wise he’s probably a push with a healthy Richy, but the main issue is just that — Richy just can’t stay healthy and very likely isn’t going to be at the club much longer. Richarlison aside, I’d also argue that Kolo Muani would be a pretty decent upgrade to Timo Werner, if the club wants to cut ties next month.
At 26, Kolo Muani needs a fresh start away from Paris, and the Premier League seems like a good place for him to do that. The links are tenuous (all transfer links are tenuous in the Age of Lange). He wouldn’t be a long-term replacement, his wages are high (£200k/wk), and it’s not clear how much purchase obligation would be, if it’s even included. But Spurs do need help in that part of the pitch, as well as someone who can capably rotate with Son Heung-Min along with Mikey Moore and (eventually) Wilson Odobert. Consider me intrigued, at least until I get more information.