Thierry Henry hails £7m man Everton and Southampton missed out on

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As Randal Kolo Muani waltzed through Angers’ defence and set Nantes on their way to a crushing 4-1 victory over the Ligue 1 surprise packages, Thierry Henry was transported back to the year 2000. 

“Nwankwo Kanu!” beamed the Arsenal legend during Amazon’s TV coverage, pointing out Muani’s sublime solo goal was exactly the sort of rabbit-out-of-the-hat magic his one-time Highbury teammate used to produce on a regular basis.  

“Oh yes, I like it a lot. I always say: ‘You’ve got the ball, don’t panic’. He didn’t panic. Well done.

“I am really happy for Nantes. They dominated Lyon, they jostled with Nice. They were never able to get a result. (Against Angers), they were rewarded. They should have already had this victory a long time ago.”

The surprise on Sunday afternoon, was not so much Nantes put pacesetters Angers to the sword on their own soil. As Henry himself says, this sort of scoreline was a long time coming.

The surprise, instead, was Kolo Muani was there to spark the scoring spree. 

Can Everton and Southampton target Kolo Muani save Nantes again?

A fleet-footed forward who has often been compared to Kylian Mbappe – not only for their similar styles but also because they grew up in the same Paris suburb – was expected to fly Les Canaries’ nest in the summer transfer window, especially when Premier League pair Crystal Palace and Southampton expressed an interest in the £6 million-rated speed-machine (Le10 Sport). 

Everton were also linked too.

And, given the lack of attacking options available to Rafa Benitez at present, Kolo Muani’s goal of the month contender at the Raymond Kopa Stadium must have felt like one of those ‘salt in the wound’ situations.

How Benitez would have loved to call on a forward as silky, skilful and searingly speedy as Kolo Muani as Everton went down 3-0 at Aston Villa on Saturday. 

But for a Nantes side that required a relegation play-off to avoid the drop last season, retaining Kolo Muani’s services could once again be the difference between relief and heartbreak.