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Musiala was 'Bambi' but now England are gutted to lose the 'future Ballon d'Or winner'

talksport.com, 23 November 2022, 08:38
Jogi Low's final months as Germany boss certainly ended on a low note, but he still may have managed one the best moves of his career.

The 2014 World Cup-winning manager said farewell to Die Mannschaft last summer after 17 years in the international set-up, 15 of those as head coach.

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The end of his tenure came with a 2-0 last 16 loss to England at Wembley at Euro 2020, marking the end of a gradual climb down, losing to a side that used to be scared of them.

However, despite the defeat to Gareth Southgate's team, Low had already dealt a huge blow to England in the build up to the tournament, securing one of football's new superstars.

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At the start of the year, the former Stuttgart manager made the trip to Munich amid rumours he wanted to invited Thomas Muller and Jerome Boateng back to the national side.

In fact, he was there instead to have dinner with Jamal Musiala, and the plan worked.

The attacking midfielder had represented both England and Germany at youth team level, and was about to make a decision to decide his footballing future after bursting onto the Bundesliga scene.

Similarly born in Stuttgart, Musiala lived in Germany until the age of seven before moving to England where he went from Southampton to Chelsea, who then made the awful decision of letting another young superstar slip through their fingers.

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The Blues' loss was Bayern's gain though with Musiala quickly becoming one of Europe's hottest talents, and Low was as switched on as anyone.

"I think he knows one way or another that I want to nominate him. The decision is his," Low said.

At the time Musiala had just gone from a bench option to pushing into Bayern's line-up, now he's the first name on the team sheet.

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This season the 19-year-old has nine goals and four assists in the Bundesliga, the most of any player, while only Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski, Neymar and Lionel Messi can top his 13 goal contributions of players in Europe's top five leagues.

And his sharp rise continues, with Musiala not only the first name for Bayern, but now Germany too, as it's hard to argue he's not the most dangerous name in Hansi Flick's final 26-man squad for the 2022 World Cup.

There's fear in Germany that both Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry have peaked despite their buckets of talent, but for Musiala, the sky's the limit.

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Nicknamed 'Bambi' as a youth player for his skinny physique and light running style, he's continually using it to his advantage, and no one can quite get near him.

"His development is simply fantastic," Flick said in September.

"He is very strong in tight spaces, he can use his dribbles to solve situations for us where we have an advantage. I'm very glad he's playing for Germany."

Bayern defender Alphonso Davis is similarly convinced, joining in with the shock of Musiala missing out on the Kopa Trophy to Barcelona's Gavi.

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"They may have denied you of your Kopa Trophy but they won't deny you of your future Ballon d'Or," the Canadian wrote on Instagram.

Not only is Musiala's production on an upward curve that could suggest the biggest individual honours, but his game intelligence too, drawing comparisons to teammate Muller.

The German striker has long been admired as one of the cleverest forwards in the game, and Musiala is learning from the best.

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"Something is already growing [between us]," Musiala said. "His football IQ is really high.

"He understands things I don't even see sometimes. But I try to keep up with him and combine with him. But it could be even better than that."

Muller though, is already convinced, knowing exactly what Musiala has to offer.

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"I have time to look at the situations while he's in the fray against two or three men… We divide it up well."

"We try to combine a lot, we have a similar idea of ​​​​playing football," he said.

"Basically, we already have a good connection. Our interaction is good, we have many situations together, good combinations.

"For me it's always about positioning. I know that with his dribbling ability he can create actions, he can get some space.

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"You like to give him the ball in certain situations because you know what he can do with it.

"Jamal has skills that are great. And he tries to use them profitably for us.

"It's extraordinary to have these skills at this age. It's totally understandable that the world loves to watch him play football."

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Manuel Neuer added: "Jamal is a key player for both teams. He had already shown a lot of good games and performances at the beginning of the season.

"Then he had some physical problems. Now he's blooming again. That's good for us.

"He is often responsible for or involved in crucial situations. That's why Jamal is one of the most important players we have."

But he's not just one of Bayern's best players, as BILD put it: "He used to be Bambi. Now almost nobody in the Bundesliga is as good as Jamal Musiala."

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