'Musiala will win Ballon d'Or': Bayern hit out at 'denied' award

FT Desk

18 Oct 2022 20:27 BST
3 min read

England or Germany? Musiala makes big call on his international future — © ProShots

Bayern Munich youngster Jamal Musiala only finished third in the voting for the Kopa Trophy at the recent Ballon d'Or ceremony, with Barcelona's Gavi winning the prize.

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Gavi won out ahead of Real Madrid's Eduardo Camavinga, with Musiala completing the podium, but his Bayern colleagues have come out in defence of the young midfielder, who they feel should have taken the title.

Canadian left-back Alphonso Davies - who made the UEFA Team of the Year in 2020 despite being just 19 at the time - took to his Twitter to support his young teammate.

They may have denied you of your Kopa Trophy, but they won’t deny you of your future Ballon d’Or #GoldenBoy 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/8YQXkWuVzw
— Alphonso Davies (@AlphonsoDavies) October 18, 2022

"They may have denied you of your Kopa Trophy, but they won't deny you of your future Ballon d'Or #GoldenBoy," he wrote.

Musiala has been Bayern's most potent attacker in the Bundesliga this season, his five goals and four assists leaving him four goal-involvements ahead of Sadio Mane, who joined from Liverpool for €41 million in the summer.

His manager Julian Nagelsmann also questioned Gavi winning the award.

"In my eyes, Jamal Musiala, as well as Jude Bellingham, have played a better season than Gavi," he said.

Shared history

Musiala and Bellingham were once England under-21 teammates, but Musiala switched his international allegiance to Germany last year.

Bellingham has gone onto become one of England's most promising players, captaining Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League at 19 and now linked with moves to Manchester City and Real Madrid.

Gavi's award was hardly daylight robbery, though. The Spanish youngster featured in 48 games in all competitions for Barca last term and recently signed a contract at Camp Nou which has a release clause of €1 billion.

Gavi's Barca teammate Pedri won the award last year, with Bellingham second and Musiala third on that occasion.

Another Bayern player, Ryan Gravenberch, was also in the running this year, but finished sixth in the voting with PSG left-back Nuno Mendes fifth after the aforementioned quartet.