Bayern Munich players Jamal Musiala, Ryan Gravenberch, Mathys Tel in the shortlist for Golden Boy

With only 40 players left in the race, things are heating up at Tuttosport’s Golden Boy awards. Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala, Ryan Gravenberch and Mathys Tel still remain, as they all show significant chances of winning. The Golden Boy was most recently awarded to FC Barcelona’s Pedri. The next shortlist will have only 20 players remaining and this means you, dear reader, will have to go vote for the Bayern boys, and right now, here.

(zippy built a fantastic case for Musiala after the last shortlist, showing precisely why Musiala deserves to win the award and what it would mean for the Bayern fraternity.)

Building a case for Gravenberch is not all that tough — the youngster’s ball retention, recovery, passing and dribbling are incredible and let us not forget his skills at linkup play, making the 20-year-old a player brimming with the best attacking and defensive qualities. As for Tel, his aerial abilities stand out (to me) — added with his linkup play abilities and otherworldly ball recovery abilities, such abilities are rarely seen in a player of his age. However, with no disrespect intended to Tel and Gravenberch, Musiala has the strongest case for winning — the way he has served the team and often emerged the brightest spot in attack in the team’s gloomiest games makes him arguably the most important player for Bayern.

The only time Bayern has won this award is in 2016, when they shared it with Benfica for Portuguese star Renato Sanches. A win for either of Musiala, Gravenberch or Tel would be huge for Bayern for the same reasons. Bayern is generally never heralded for its youth development and for a Bayern youngster to win this award would be huge for the youth setup and academy.

One can argue that two out of the three nominees from Bayern are not the team’s own youth products. Here comes the necessity for a glass half-full approach — the argument that Bayern have hit bullseye with the transfer of Musiala and this year’s blockbuster summer transfer window. Out of the five purchases Bayern made, two players are Golden Boy nominees, isn’t that a reflection of the incredible work done in terms of transfers?