By now, Juventus director Cristiano Giuntoli has made it no secret that the club would very much like to keep on-loan striker Randal Kolo Muani around beyond the end of the 2024-25 season.
When Giuntoli said that Juve are “figuring out how we could continue with him in future” last week, he very much meant it.
According to Italian transfer reporter Nicolo Schira late Monday night, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain are already in talks to see about Kolo Muani staying in Turin beyond the month of June. The two sides have already held “positive talks,” with Juventus proposing Kolo Muani stays on loan for the 2025-26 season — with a very high loan fee to boot — with a option to buy that would become an obligation if certain sporting conditions are met. If those conditions do happen, Juventus are preparing a contract through 2030 for the 26-year-old Frenchman who reportedly earns upward of €9 million a season. (Juve are currently covering his salary for the second half of the season, with a figure around €4.5 million.)
Here’s a big factor in this situation, too: Kolo Muani wants to stay at Juventus beyond the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, according to Schira.
Then again, when you’ve been basically strapped to the bench in Paris for months and then get a much-needed new lease on life at the club you’re sent on loan to, it’s easy to understand why Kolo Muani would like Juventus a whole lot more than he enjoyed his time at PSG earlier this season.
Kolo Muani has started all five games he’s been eligible to play in since arriving on loan at Juventus last month. His record-setting start to life at Juventus has helped Thiago Motta’s squad put their first three-game winning streak of the season together. And in games when he hasn’t been scoring goals, he is doing something like he did against Inter on Sunday night when his spin move of an assist set up Francisco Conceição’s game-winning goal.
The sample size is still rather small, but you can totally understand why Giutnoli is working to try and keep Kolo Muani around and why the player has quite enjoyed his short time in Turin. Kolo Muani needed a fresh start after starting just two games and playing all of 465 minutes in all competitions at PSG this season. (He’s already played close to that same amount during his time with Juventus.) He’s gotten just that since signing on loan.
PSG will want to recoup all they possibly can from the upward of €90 million they paid for Kolo Muani a year and a half ago. Juve are in position to keep him around if talks continue to progress with the Parisians, who clearly don’t have any sort of future with Kolo Muani.
