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Jamal Musiala is an excellent footballer — he has proven that again and again with Bayern Munich over the years. Even at just 20 years of age, he’s helped his club win a Bundesliga title with a last-minute goal vs. Koln, and repeatedly set the world alight with his performances in the Champions League.
Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be enough for the voters of the Golden Boy awards, as once again the youngster finds himself behind in the polls. Currently it’s Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham in the lead, and Golden Boy co-founder Massimo Franchi has something to say about that.
Massimo Franchi (co-founder of the Golden Boy Award): "When we published the list in June, according to the algorithm, Jamal Musiala was number one and Jude Bellingham was second. The result was the same in July. Musiala was then surpassed by Bellingham in August. What he… pic.twitter.com/0qPvtuXTGL
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) September 28, 2023
Musiala is a fantastic player. He actually deserved a small statue for his title winning goal last season. But in the first part of the current season he couldn’t show his genius the same way. It was absolutely right that Jamal was in the lead at the start of the Golden Boy race in June. But then the “driver” Bellingham — to use Formula 1 jargon — moved to the “Scuderia” Real Madrid, where he worked magic and is still doing magic. So Jamal has to show something extraordinary - possibly also with the German national team — in order to catch Bellingham.
If Jamal doesn’t finish first, I’ll tell him: “It’s not a drama. Think of Cristiano Ronaldo. He never won the Golden Boy award. Look where he is now, what a huge career he has had. — He has to take him as inspiration.
I love him. I love his creative playing style. I really love this young man. Chelsea had a diamond. Letting go of Musiala was a huge mistake. When you have a jewel like this, you have to protect it with all your might. What is fitting is that Jamal means beauty in Arabic. He is a beautiful player. I love him, even though I think he’ll only finish second this year.”
Missing out on the Golden Boy award is honestly no big deal for Musiala — he’s still one of the finest young players in the world and has a whole career ahead of him. Right now, all he needs to do is focus on his game and let the rest sort itself out. At a club like Bayern Munich, success is never far away.
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