Why Juventus missed out on Kolo Muani to Tottenham on deadline day | OneFootball

Juventus had been pursuing a deal to bring Randal Kolo Muani back to Turin from PSG after a successful loan spell in Serie A during the second half of the 2025-26 season, but ultimately lost out on the Frenchman to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.

But how were the North Londoners able to get a deal done so quickly, and why did the Old Lady decide to abandon their pursuit?

Why Juventus decided to drop Kolo Muani

Kolo Muani had spent the second half of the 2025-26 season on a straight loan with Juventus, which did not include any option to buy. He went on to score eight goals from 16 Serie A appearances, and later had his loan agreement extended so he could feature for the Bianconeri at the FIFA Club World Cup.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 22: Randal Kolo Muani #20 of Juventus FC looks on during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group G match between Juventus FC and Wydad AC at Lincoln Financial Field on June 22, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

Given that PSG invested €90m in Kolo Muani just two years, bringing him back to Juventus was never going to be a particularly cheap affair.

That led to Juventus exploring options around another loan deal, initially seeking a loan with an option to buy, before later attempting to sign the Frenchman on another dry loan deal. Neither of those attempts proved to be successful, though.

PSG were adamant that they were seeking a fee in the region of €60m to sell Kolo Muani, and were asking for a similar buy-out fee for any loan proposals.

Additionally, Kolo Muani earns a significant salary in the region of €8m per season, which, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, would not have been out of the question for Juventus, but would have been tricky to budget while Dusan Vlahovic and his €12m salary were still on the club’s books.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – JUNE 26: Dusan Vlahovic #9 of Juventus FC during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group G match between Juventus FC and Manchester City FC at Camping World Stadium on June 26, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

In the end, the Bianconeri decided that they would be better off pursuing multiple new additions with the money that it would have taken to sign Kolo Muani.

They were eventually able to bring in a new forward in Lois Openda from RB Leipzig on loan with an option to buy for €40.6m plus bonuses, and were also able to bring in a new winger in Edon Zhegrova for a fee of €15m plus €3m in bonuses.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Openda and Zhegrova’s combined salaries are similar to what Kolo Muani earns on his own.

Lois Openda signs for Juventus (Photo: Juventus)

With Juve having decided to go in a different direction towards the end of the summer transfer window, Kolo Muani became available for other teams on the transfer market.

In the end, it was Tottenham who were able to swoop in and offer both PSG and Kolo Muani the terms that they had requested, and were able to announce the signing on the final day of the summer transfer window.