Jamal Musiala announced himself on the international stage at Euro 2024 with Germany, and Chelsea regrets their mistake in letting him go to Bayern Munich in 2019.
Chelsea will regret their decision to let Euro 2024 sensation Jamal Musiala slip through their fingers and join Bayern Munich for a pittance.
Musiala, now 21, featured for TSV Lehnerz, Southampton and Chelsea during his formative years, before a reshuffle at Stamford Bridge saw the attacking midfielder move to Munich for a paltry £170,000 in July 2019. Although the Blues will reportedly pocket a 20% sell-on clause for Musiala, it is a drop in the ocean compared to the player’s estimated £100m value (according to transfermarkt) should he leave the Allianz Arena in the short term.
Despite being surrounded by a wealth of talent in Munich’s midfield, including Leon Goretzka and Thomas Muller, Musiala set the Bundesliga on fire in the 2023/24 season, scoring 12 goals and providing eight assists for his club in all matches. competitions. His impressive form appears to have extended to this summer’s tournament as well.
The young star found the back of the net in Germany’s 5-1 thrashing of Scotland in their first match of the competition, and added another goal to his tally in his country’s 2-0 victory over Hungary on Wednesday. While Chelsea might be hurt to see their former prospect flourish and sweep the tournament, reports suggest they didn’t actually want to let him go in the first place.
Chelsea’s ‘one who got away’ believed Bavaria would offer a better development path than England. It is understood Musiala was offered a new contract in west London but he decided to leave, Football London reports. And this, of course, is not the first time that Chelsea has let an interesting player slip away.
Kevin De Bruyne signed for them aged 20, coming from Genk in 2012 for around £7m and teaming up with fellow Belgians Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois. He spent his first season away from Stamford Bridge on loan at Werder Bremen to further develop as a player.
Upon his return, De Bruyne made just nine appearances for Jose Mourinho’s side before being sent to Wolfsburg in 2014 for around £18m. After just a season and a half with the team, where he scored 20 goals and provided 37 assists, Manchester City took notice and brought the Belgian to the Etihad Stadium for a then-club record £54 million.
During his tenure with City, the stalwart won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups, an FA Community Shield and a coveted Champions League trophy, and shows no signs of slowing down. Musiala was also tasked with the difficult choice of which country to represent in world football. Given his multinational heritage (a German-Polish mother and a Nigerian-British father), this was no small feat.
Speaking to the German program Sportschau, he confessed: “I have a heart for Germany and a heart for England, both hearts will continue to beat. I have thought a lot about this issue. In the end, I listened to my feelings and said: the right decision to play for Germany.
“But it was not an easy decision for me. I had a very good and honest conversation with (former Germany coach) Joachim Löw. He showed me a clear path to the national team. Mr. Löw had clearly worked and analyzed my strengths and weaknesses. He also sees my future in my strongest position in the attacking midfield and appreciates my qualities there.”
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The Three Lions are among the favorites to win this summer’s Euro 2024 and you can get your hands on the new Nike home and away kits before the first whistle.
