Leave it to this summer-long transfer saga between Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain to take at least one more twist before something may finally happen ahead of Monday’s summer transfer deadline.
Because, well, it only feels like something that has lasted for months just isn’t going to suddenly resolve itself.
It was just a couple of days ago that we thought Juventus and PSG had come oh-so-close to agreeing to a deal for Randal Kolo Muani that would have seen him arrive on loan with an obligation to buy,
with the Bianconeri spending a total of around €60 million when it’s all said and done. That, however, isn’t where this story is going to end. In fact, with Thursday’s news from Juve general manager Damien Comolli that Dusan Vlahovic is “99%” likely to stay in Turin this season, it has caused the club to once again change things up a bit. Or, in this case, a major kind of way.
What does it mean?
According to Le Parisien on Friday and since confirmed by Sky Sport Italia later in the day, Juventus are now inclined to try and sign Kolo Muani on a season-long loan deal … and that might be it. No expected obligation to buy that’s only a matter of details but is totally expected to happen. Hell, there might not even be an option to buy under certain conditions. But Juventus still want to bring in Kolo Muani for the 2025-26 season on a dry loan and not have so much of a strain on the current budget because they now will have to commit to paying Vlahovic’s Serie A-high €12 million net salary until at least January and likely for the entire campaign.
Sky Italia transfer reporter Gianluca Di Marzio describes Juventus’ new terms to try and bring Kolo Muani in ahead of Monday’s deadline as “a very expensive loan with an obligation linked to certain conditions.” What those conditions may be, it’s hard to really say at this point because these negotiations have proven to be such a complete change of what each sides wants every couple of days. According to Sky Italia, this new structure of the deal “is due to Financial Fair Play.”
But with the deadline to get this deal done now just three days away, something is going to have to give in either direction.
Sky Italia notes that Juve are trying to get this deal done while having very little financial wiggle room — which, as you can probably guess, is another by-product of Vlahovic and his lofty salary still being on the books this season. Juventus, in this case, would likely have to pick up most if not all of Kolo Muani’s very large salary for the 2025-26 season, which stands at around €8 million net, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
When asked about Kolo Muani at Thursday’s Champions League draw, Comolli said: “There are still many things that can happen until Monday evening. We will do everything possible to improve the squad.” Comolli also refused to speak directly about Kolo Muani’s status with Juventus considering he is still a PSG player even though he has not been training with the squad since they returned from their post-Club World Cup break earlier this month.
