Jamal Musiala is the successor to Lionel Messi and can win Ballon d'Or, says Bayern legend Lothar Matthaus

BySam Rooke

Published 27/08/2022 at 12:29 GMT+1

After a hugely-impressive start to the season, in which he has scored four goals in three appearances, Jamal Musiala is garnering plenty of attention. Bayern legend Lothar Matthaus believes that the ex-Chelsea midfielder is the successor to Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski at the top of the men's game. The World Cup-winner goes on to say that Musiala could win the Ballon d'Or one day.

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Bayern Munich legend Lothar Matthaus believes that Jamal Musiala is heading to the top of men's football, and is a potential Ballon d'Or winner.

Musiala is enjoying a breakout start to the season with Bayern, having scored four goals in three appearances so far.

His most recent goal was his 14th for the club, breaking Uli Hoeness' record and making him the highest scoring Bayern player under the age of 20.

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The Germany midfielder is in the 93rd percentile or above in virtually ever major attacking statistic this season; including shots, assists, goals, xG assists, shot-creating actions, dribbles completed, progressive carries, touches in the attacking penalty area, and progressive passes received.

Unfortunately, Musiala missed Bayern's 7-0 win over Bochum last Sunday through injury and is likely to also sit out their next fixture against Borussia Monchengladbach.

Matthaus says the former Chelsea academy player "reminds me a bit of Messi".

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Expanding on this point, Matthaus - himself a winner of the Ballon d'Or in 1990 - explained his perspective.

"If things keep going like this, he will win a Ballon d'Or one day," he said.

"He could become the inheritor of Robert Lewandoswki but we must be patient. It won't happen today or tomorrow. But he has everything required and he is already in the best position to do it."

If Musiala were to break through and win the Ballon d'Or while playing in Munich, he would break a 41-year barren run. No Bayern player has won the Ballon d'Or since Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in 1981. Matthias Sammer was the last German to win the award, back in 1996.

Matthaus has long been a fan of Musiala, having previously named the 19-year-old as "the future" of Bayern.

Expanding on that point, Matthaus said: "Musiala makes the difference and is scoring more goals. If someone wanted to buy him now, the transfer fee would be close to €150 million. That's not an issue anyway, because he's certainly not for sale."

While any potential Ballon d'Or win might be years away, Musiala is among the leading contenders for the 2022 Golden Boy award. The Golden Boy, an award presented by Italian newspaper Tuttosport since 2003, is given to the player judged to be the best under-21 in Europe.

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