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New in Paris: Eintracht Frankfurt's record sale Randal Kolo Muani

Photo: Arne Dedert / picture alliance/dpa

Spectacular turnaround in the transfer poker for Eintracht Frankfurt's star striker Randal Kolo Muani: The attacker, who has gone on a training strike with the Bundesliga club, is now moving back to his home country to French champions Paris Saint-Germain. This was confirmed by the clubs on Saturday night.

According to the Eintracht statement, Paris is transferring a transfer fee of 95 million euros for Kolo Muani, whose contract with the Hessians ran until 2027 and did not include a release clause. At PSG, the 24-year-old has signed a five-year contract and will strike alongside his national teammates Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé.

"We would have liked to have seen Randal with us longer and had always communicated this accordingly in the last few weeks. In the end, the development of the past few hours and the associated economic parameters, which mean a record income for Eintracht Frankfurt through a player transfer, were decisive," said Frankfurt's sporting director Markus Krösche, explaining the transfer.

After the deal had actually already burst in the afternoon, PSG increased its previous offer of around 90 million euros in the evening and was successful with the final offer. While the transfer period in the Bundesliga ended at 18:00 CET on Friday, the transfer window in France did not end until 23:00 CET.

Kolo Muani strikes successfully

Kolo Muani went on a training strike on Wednesday to force the transfer and was also absent from Thursday's Conference League play-off second leg against Levski Sofia (2-0). For a long time, however, it looked as if he would not be successful, because Eintracht had initially broken off negotiations with Paris without an agreement.

On the one hand, the transfer fee for Eintracht was not right, on the other hand, Hugo Ekitiké from Paris Saint-Germain, who was planned as a replacement for Kolo Muani, did not materialize. Despite a lack of a successor for the goal scorer, the Hessians later relented and gave the runner-up the go-ahead.

"In the late afternoon, due to the supply situation of the player side and Paris Saint-Germain, we announced that we see no basis for an agreement and continue to plan with Randal Kolo Muani. Late in the evening, we received an offer that we could not refuse from an economic point of view in the interests of Eintracht Frankfurt," reported Krösche.

For Frankfurt, Kolo Muani was a transfer bull's eye both athletically and economically. The striker, who joined on a free transfer from FC Nantes in 2022, was not only the third-best scorer in his first and, for the time being, last Bundesliga season with 15 goals, but also the striker with the most scorer points with a further 16 assists. Now Eintracht can also look forward to a record income.

cev/dpa