Jamal Musiala says Gareth Southgate was disappointed when he chose Germany over England

Not long before signing a fresh new contract with Bayern Munich, Jamal Musiala announced that he had made the decision to represent Germany for international play instead of England.

There had been pressure from both Gareth Southgate and Joachim Low, but in the end, Musiala decided to go with Die Mannschaft, which was surely aided by advice from his teammates at Bayern, who are always well represented on the German national team.

Per Sport Bild, Musiala revealed that Southgate admitted he was disappointed when he was made aware of the decision. When he broke the news, he told both Southgate and technical director of the FA, John McDermott. “I wanted to explain the reasons for my decision to John McDermott (Technical Director FA) and Gareth Southgate. They were a bit disappointed, but understood my decision and wished me all the best for my future. I was really happy about your positive reaction, they are real sportsmen,” Musiala explained.

Musiala also revealed that he had discussions with Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham about the decision. In addition to being Bundesliga rivals, the two know each other well from their time playing for England’s youth teams. “Jude will certainly understand my decision, and we will remain friends anyway. I would be very happy to play against him at the Euros or World Cup. I just have two hearts in me and I’m really proud to play for Germany now. So for the country where I was born.” Musiala said.

Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Removing any sort of Bayern and Die Mannschaft bias from the equation, Musiala’s chances of being integrated into the senior national team are a bit better at Germany, too. In the England setup, there are a bevvy of younger players already in the squad that play a similar position as Musiala.

Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden, Mason Mount, James Maddison, Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling, and potentially even Ross Barkley are players that Musiala would have to compete with. With Germany, there isn’t as much depth that would keep him from working his way into the squad and the seamless connection of always playing with Germany’s Bayern contingent will certainly help with tactical continuity ever time he’s called up for a Die Mannschaft camp.