Tottenham Hotspur had been heavily linked with a move for Randal Kolo Muani over the course of the past 12 months, with Foot Mercato reporting last October that Fabio Paratici had even held talks with the 23-year-old's representatives regarding a potential move to north London on a free transfer at the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

However, despite the interest of the Premier League giants, along with Bayern Munich and Borussia Monchengladbach, it was Eintracht Frankfurt who ultimately won the race for the former France under-21 international, who put pen to paper on a five-year deal with the 2021/22 Europa League winners.

Frankfurt's evident persistence in landing the centre-forward ahead of the likes of Spurs and Bayern already appears to be paying dividends, with the Frenchman having got off to something of a spectacular start to life in Germany.

Indeed, over his five Bundesliga appearances so far this season, the £26m-rated striker has been in sensational form. He has already scored two goals, registered four assists and created two big chances for his team-mates, in addition to taking 1.4 shots, making 1.4 key passes and completing 1.6 dribbles per game. Those figures would see him rank fourth, fourth and first in the Tottenham squad respectively so far in 2022/23.

These returns have seen the 23-year-old average an impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.16, not only ranking him as Eintracht's best performer in the league and also as the joint 41st-best player in the German top flight as a whole this term.

Furthermore, Kolo Muani is also an extremely versatile forward - being able to operate from either flank as well as a number 10. It's a trait that Antonio Conte is known to favour in his attackers and that Eintracht's board member for sport Markus Krosche commented on upon the striker's signing earlier this year.

He said (via Bundesliga.com): "Randal Kolo Muani brings attributes that we need for our game. He's fast, robust and a very good finisher. He's also tactically versatile and can play in several different systems, which will give us even more flexibility next season. Randal's potential has attracted the interest of many clubs. We're very pleased that he wants to take his next steps at Eintracht Frankfurt."

With Kolo Muani looking to be a deadly, flexible and creative talent - not to mention one who is now worth around £26m on the transfer market - exactly why the usually reliable Paratici decided against pushing harder to land the 23-year-old for Spurs appears something of a mystery. The forward very much looks to be a player that Conte would have loved to have at his disposal this season and beyond.