Witnessing Musiala’s maturity and dedication in the German shirt, the English coaches must be very regretful.

FOMO (Feаr Of Missing Out) or “Feаr Of Missing Out Syndrome” is probably the feeling that the British are experiencing every time they look at Jamal Musiala.

Born in Stuggart to a Nigerian father and a German mother, Musiala spent most of his childhood in the UK when his mother attended an Erasmus course in Southampton, the reason why the whole family moved here when he was young. 

Musiala joined City Central FC as soon as he arrived in England, the boy’s talent was immediately noticed by Southampton. However, it was Chelsea who received the services of the boy born in 2003 when his mother took a job in Surrey, right near the club’s Cobham training ground.

His time growing up in Chelsea’s youth team helped Musiala impress FA scouts, including current Three Lions coach Gareth Southgate.

Musiala (right) made a strong impression when he played for Chelsea’s youth team.

“Gareth probably won’t remember his first meeting with Jamal, but he watched our training session before a Premiere League final and told me ‘the number eight is a brilliant nаme’.” – shared physical education teacher Tony Mesourouni, who was in charge of Musiala while studying in Corpus Christi.

Musiala’s journey at the national youth team level is also very complicated. He represented England U15, then U16 in Germany and then England again at U16, U17 and U21. 

Andrew Martina, Football Director of Whitgift School where Musiala studied in 2014 said: “He said that the England team was like his home, he was familiar with his teammates from Chelsea when he focused on the national team and wаnted to to play for England.”

The British have secured Musiala’s services at U21 level.

Things began to change when Bayern Munich turned their attention to winger Callum Hudson Odoi, who is under the same management company as Musiala. Of course, Musiala was also mentioned in the discussions, with Bayern willing to pay Chelsea a compensation fee of £170,000. 

However, money is not too important for a player who just turned 17. Joachim Low – the coach of the German team is the key nаme that made Musiala change his mind.

“Jamal went to meet Low and the director of Bayern’s academy. They outlined for him a clear path to the Bayern first team and then the German national team. I think when he was 16 and met the manager of the two top teams in the world, you have made a decision. 

In the end, Bayern Munich and Joachim Low were the ones who convinced of a future for the boy born in 2003.

The ending of the story does not need to be repeated. The Germans, after the successful 2014 World Cup campaign, must find a way to strongly supplement the force of young players. That determination became even greater when they failed miserably at the 2018 World Cup. The process of retaining Musiala at Bayern Munich went smoothly when he played successfully in the gray tiger shirt. 

Germany’s enthusiasm and the FA’s indifference led Musiala to make the final decision in 2021 that he would play for “Ԁie Mannschaft”, even though a few months earlier he still played for England U21.

At Euro 2020 (2021), Jamal Musiala became the youngest player to play for the German national team (18 years and 117 days). Currently, the 21-year-old talent is shining at Euro 2024 with three goals in four matches, leading Germany’s scoring list and directly competing in the current Euro top scorer race.

Now, Musiala is an indispensable nаme in coach Julian Nagelssmann’s squad.

Of course, England have reason not to feel too sorry about Musiala, as they have Jude Bellingham – Musiala’s former teammate in the England youth team – who is also playing very positively. However, Bellingham’s performance at this year’s Euro still cannot contribute as much as Musiala is doing for Germany. 

After scoring the decisive goal in a 2-0 victory over Denmark, Musiala’s Germany team will face the winner of the Spain – Georgia match that will take place at 2:00 a.m. tomorrow. With current form, a successful Euro tournament at home, where he was born and chooses to contribute, is definitely the number one goal of the 21-year-old talent.