Luciano Spalletti turns up the pressure on Randal Kolo Muani as Juve await goals | OneFootball

Juventus fought hard to bring back Randal Kolo Muani, yet Luciano Spalletti has set a demanding tone at the start of the season.

On his first Juve stint, on loan, he scored inside the first half at Napoli in a 1-2 defeat on 25 January 2025. This time he drew a blank in pre-season, then two weeks ago missed from a metre at promoted Frosinone in a 1-0 loss, before another 90 minutes without scoring against Parma in a 2-0 win.

After the Frosinone match, Spalletti told DAZN: “We went to get him and looked after him. But he must also realise that if he has not played for two years, there is a reason. Sometimes you think you are exceptional, but you have left things behind that you need to recover.”

Juve paid 41 million euros plus 12 in add-ons to PSG, and Spalletti made repeated calls after Kolo Muani’s 10 goals in 22 games from January to June 2025. “He is right. When you create so many chances, you have to finish them. After that match, I was the first to know it,” he said, speaking to Corriere della Sera on Friday.

Contacts with the striker never really stopped despite changes of leadership over the past year. Jonathan David and Loïs Openda struggled in his stead, scoring eight in 47 and two in 34 respectively, before moving to Atlético and OL. Expectations are heightened by playmaker Kenan Yildiz’s three-month absence.

Kolo Muani has taken the number nine shirt and its burden. After the Parma win, Spalletti urged more bite and commitment, saying that would solve things, while insisting the staff fully trust his qualities.

With German forward Nick Woltemade arriving late in the window, Kolo Muani added on Saturday: “It is the same everywhere, everyone knows the centre-forward must deliver goals and assists,” speaking to DAZN.

Gonçalo Ramos, another former PSG striker who cost 70 million euros and whom Juve face on Sunday against Milan at 20:45, showed the way by netting against Venezia in a 2-0 win on 28 August.

Source: L'Équipe

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