Bundesliga
Eintracht keeps the door open for the striking Kolo Muani
Will he stay or will Randal Kolo Muani leave Eintracht Frankfurt? photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
In the transfer theater around Frankfurt star Kolo Muani, the last act is coming up – with an open end. Despite his training strike, the Frenchman would still be welcome at Eintracht.
If the 24-year-old’s move to top French club Paris Saint-Germain does not materialize by the end of the transfer period in the evening, those in charge of the Bundesliga soccer club hope the striking attacker will return quickly to the Hessian squad. “That wouldn’t be a problem,” said Frankfurt’s sporting director Markus Krösche after moving into the group stage of the Conference League with a 2-0 win in the playoff second leg against Levski Sofia.
“Everybody makes mistakes”
Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller criticized the French national player, but would immediately take him back to the team. “I’m not going to put the baton on him just because he made that mistake,” said the 42-year-old, appealing: “We shouldn’t infer his character because of his misconduct, which is absolutely not okay with the group. There’s a lot of people influencing him and tugging at him. He’s a young person. Everyone makes mistakes.”
Kolo Muani skipped Eintracht’s final training session before the Sofia game on Wednesday to force a transfer to PSG. In poker for the required transfer fee of 100 million euros, the two clubs were still far apart on Thursday evening. “We have our ideas, they have their ideas. We are in talks and will see what happens,” said Krösche.
No understanding for France’s national coach
He also did not want to condemn the vice world champion, whose contract in Frankfurt is valid until the summer of 2027, for the training strike. “Certainly the reaction he showed is wrong, but he’s still a good boy,” said Krösche and added: “Certainly it’s not an easy situation for him either after all the speculation about his in the past few weeks person has given.”
On the other hand, he showed no understanding for France national coach Didier Deschamps, who had recently spoken out in favor of Kolo Muani moving to Paris. “I can’t influence what other people say, but the national coach of France has enough to do with his team and shouldn’t get involved in transfer stories,” said Krösche.