Exclusive: PSG might change tactics to avoid star sealing transfer away, says expert

Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique could slightly change his tactics next season to accommodate striker Randal Kolo Muani a bit more often instead of allowing him to seal a transfer away this summer.

That’s according to French football expert Jonathan Johnson as he spoke exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column to address rumours about Kolo Muani’s future.

The journalist acknowledged that the France international has been linked with Borussia Dortmund in recent times but insisted he couldn’t see PSG giving up on him already after investing so much in signing him last summer.

It’s been a difficult first season for Kolo Muani at the Parc des Princes, but there’s still a very good player in there somewhere, and it might just be about tweaking the attack to get the best out of him.

Kolo Muani transfer: PSG unlikely to let him go so soon

Kolo Muani hasn’t quite nailed down a place in Enrique’s team so far, but it seems there could be ways for him to have more of a key role, with Johnson suggesting that the Spanish tactician could try using Ousmane Dembele behind a front two next season, rather than a front three now that Kylian Mbappe is leaving.

“Randal Kolo Muani has been linked with Borussia Dortmund and I think he’s been very unlucky in many ways. Obviously he came in to the PSG attacking rotation at a time when the Kylian Mbappe situation was still flip-flopping a bit, and he came in alongside Goncalo Ramos, with both players struggling at first but with Ramos growing in stature a bit as the season’s gone on,” Johnson said.

“Kolo Muani hasn’t featured much at all, but the feeling is that he will feature a lot more next season now that Mbappe’s leaving and PSG will rebuild their attack. Given how much money they’ve spent on Kolo Muani, I can’t see them throwing in the towel, but there just hasn’t been the flexibility with the attack so far in order to bring him and Ramos into the fold.

“I expect them both to play far more important roles next season than they have this, but it’s still quite an awkward attacking line up for Enrique to put together in terms of his starting XI. It will also be interesting to see what happens with Ousmane Dembele’s position next season, because if he moves into a more central number 10 role there is a possibility that he could play behind Ramos and Kolo Muani.”

He added: “Kolo Muani might have to adapt and sometimes play out wide, but overall I don’t think we’ll see him leave PSG this summer without him being given more of a chance, considering how much they invested in him.”