Randal Kolo Muani empties his bag on his complicated first months at PSG

He was Paris Saint-Germain’s most expensive 2023 summer recruit. Snatched from Eintracht Frankfurt during added time of the transfer window in exchange for €95 million, Randal Kolo Muani (25) returned to France with a lot of pressure on his shoulders. After only one season spent in Germany (26 goals, 17 assists in 50 matches), the former resident of FC Nantes aroused enormous expectations since he was supposed to form, with Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, the explosive attacking trio of PSG. Unfortunately for him, things don’t really go as planned.

Kolo Muani didn’t expect that

Author of 8 goals and 3 assists in 23 matches, all competitions combined, RKM does not display a record of madness under the Parisian colors. Enough to earn it numerous criticisms, in particular because of its purchase price. This bad patch at club did not prevent him from being called up to the national team by Didier Deschamps, but the criticism did not leave the striker unmoved. In a long interview given to World Eleven, the native of Bondy spoke sincerely about his difficult beginnings with Paris. If he indicated that he took these tackles as ” advices “ who help him improve, Kolo Muani still admitted that he was not prepared to experience such a scenario.

“Frankly, I didn’t expect that, I didn’t expect such an impact when I arrived in Paris. PSG is a huge club, and you just have to get used to all that. Criticism helps, but you shouldn’t worry about criticism either. If you give too much importance to criticism, it will affect your morale. And that’s not good for the future. But sometimes it goes beyond criticism and becomes mockery. Once again, don’t pay attention to it, otherwise your morale will be at zero. You have to clear your mind, not worry about the networks, the internet or television. When I leave my match, I stay with my loved ones and my family. I try not to use my phone, I try to cut myself off from the world. I saw a lot of things happen, at first it affected me. (…) We are not robots. We are living beings, we have feelings… But today, I manage to ignore it”.

RKM is not going to give up

Now replacing, behind the Mbappé-Dembélé-Barcola trio, Kolo Muani does not intend to lament his fate. Less susceptible to criticism, the striker knows what he must do to convince Luis Enrique to give him back a starting place. “Obviously, it’s hard to be on the bench, but I’m at PSG, there’s competition. (…) I have to keep the ball better and become more efficient. It’s up to me to listen to the instructions and play with my instinct when I’m on the pitch”, he said, before returning to his time in the Bundesliga. In one year, he had conquered Frankfurt and its fans. Going from darling of Eintracht to his current status at PSG, the difference is tough for RKM. Especially since the Frenchman seemed to really like it across the Rhine.

“In Germany, maybe I was criticized too, but I didn’t understand the language. Today, I speak up and I am not afraid to speak. I am not running away from my responsibilities. You have to take responsibility in life. I am a person who assumes responsibility. I know I’m not good since I arrived. It’s up to me to reverse the trend, I have confidence. My time will come. In Germany, I felt confident, that’s why I thrived on the pitch. I just need to be happy and confident. And everything will run like clockwork. Today I am happy. But I’m not happy like in Germany. At first, the criticism affected me. I am a human, I am not a wall, nor a robot, I have feelings. But I’m not sad. I’m happy to be a PSG player. But I could be better. » In search of confidence in a club where the word patience is rarely appreciated, Randal Kolo Muani knows that he will have to roll up his sleeves and react quickly. Because at the end of the season, there is the Euro. And if he wants to see again with the Blues a Germany that he appreciates, RKM will not be able to be satisfied with this status of luxury replacement for long.