Randal Kolo Muani has gone 173 days without scoring, been booed by Juventus supporters and responded by securing another place in Luciano Spalletti’s starting line-up.

The French striker endured another difficult evening during Sunday’s 1-1 draw with AC Milan at the Allianz Stadium.

Alphadjo Cissé gave Milan the lead in the 69th minute before Federico Gatti rescued Juventus with a late equaliser. Kolo Muani remained on the pitch but did considerably less to influence the result.

The 27-year-old recorded 32 touches, failed to register a shot on target and completed none of his three attempted dribbles. He also won two of his 11 ground duels and one of five in the air.

Sections of the home support made their dissatisfaction clear as his wait for a goal continued.

Juventus paid Paris Saint-Germain an initial €38 million for Kolo Muani in August, with another €12 million potentially due through bonuses. The deal followed a lengthy summer pursuit and brought him back to Turin after he scored 10 goals in 22 appearances during his first spell at the club.

Those previous goals have become increasingly important because no new ones have arrived.

Spalletti publicly challenged the striker following Juventus’ opening league match against Frosinone, saying he needed to recognise that he had barely played during the previous two years.

After the Milan draw, however, the Juventus manager changed approach. Spalletti said he had personally “got on his bandwagon” by choosing him and predicted that people would be discussing Kolo Muani differently by the end of the season.

He also compared the forward’s potential to Edin Džeko and confirmed that Kolo Muani is expected to start away against Sassuolo next Sunday.

Juventus have therefore invested up to €50 million in a striker who has not scored for almost six months. Spalletti’s proposed solution is to select him again.

After 173 days, another opportunity is now considerably easier to guarantee than another goal.