Paris Brunner: The Eyes of the Wolf

Filipe Luís's Monaco are one of the surprises of the early European season. After seven matchdays they sit level on points with the Ligue 1 leaders, and their 2-1 win over PSG at the Parc des Princes has fuelled dreams of a return to the Champions League. All this despite a summer transfer window that was, in more ways than one, disorganised and impulsive. Key squad players such as Maghnes Akliouche, Thilo Kehrer and Caio Henrique left, and the sales of Lamine Camara and Folarin Balogun were negotiated but never completed, even though, according to reports, both players were ready to go. The saga left the board in the firing line.

The club is going through a delicate financial period, and yet Filipe Luís's side are keeping afloat a ship that holds on thanks to its sailors. Paris Brunner is one of the main reasons. His breakthrough, as unexpected as it is thrilling, has earned him a Big Data rating of 70 at Al Primer Toque, with a 92nd percentile in finishing. His four goals in the five league games he has played go a long way to explaining how Monaco reached October unbeaten. And not only in Ligue 1: he scored in both legs of the Conference League play-off against Górnik Zabrze, and hit a brace on his Germany Under-21 debut, a 4-0 win in Latvia. Like every striker he will live by streaks, but in the data he has already become one of the usual suspects.

Paris has the eyes of a hungry wolf. That insatiable stare with which fame condemns you once you have fallen for its temptation.

The sample is short, and so is his patience. The kid has given everyone something to talk about: the stunning equaliser at Strasbourg, which has already earned him comparisons with Kylian Mbappé, another striker who took off in the Principality, and the rumours of indiscipline from his days in Borussia Dortmund's academy. What is certain is that people are talking about him more and more. His goal in Monaco's 2-1 win in Sofia against CSKA, in the Conference League, confirms a consistency in front of goal that Filipe Luís cannot do without. Yet he has had to for the last two league games: the LFP disciplinary committee banned him for two matches for making a throat-slitting gesture at the Strasbourg supporters, and without him Monaco drew 2-2 with Toulouse and lost 1-0 at Lorient, their first defeat of the season.

Brunner is rebellious, rude and at the same time the teacher's pet: one of those who, even if they never make it, are never forgotten.

Paris has the eyes of a hungry wolf. That insatiable stare with which fame condemns you once you have fallen for its temptation. The numbers make an irrefutable case for his success, but his behaviour suggests he pays little attention to statistics. Brunner is rebellious, rude and at the same time the teacher's pet: one of those who, even if they never make it, are never forgotten.

Data: API-Football, 2026/27 season up to 19/10/2026. Big Data rating and percentiles: Al Primer Toque, compared with centre-forwards across the 26 leagues we analyse, using the league coefficient and all his competitions (Ligue 1 and Conference League). Sample: 660 minutes (390 in the league and 270 in the Conference League), a short sample.