18-year-old Jamal Musiala's steady rise to stardom has earned him respect among his peers.
The Stuttgart-born Bayern Munich star who has a British father moved to England as a seven-year-old and played for Chelsea’s youth team before moving back to Munich where he has already scored 11 goals from the 48 matches he has been involved in.
On Monday, Musiala scored his first international goal for Germany in their 6-0 romp of North Macedonia to help them qualify for next year’s World Cup.
He had previously represented England from U15 to U21 level (and Germany U16s) before deciding to play for Germany's senior team.
“When I was young, if I didn't score I would start crying at home.”
“My mother went to university at Southampton and we were there for four months. I trialled at Southampton for a while.,” he told BBC.
“Chelsea watched me at one of the games we had at Southampton and they offered me a trial and I thought 'why wouldn't I go to Chelsea?'”
“My mum asked me if I would want to play football in England because it's a big step to move from Germany to England and I was really up for it. I didn't hesitate, I just wanted to play football.I was kind of nervous. I didn't speak the language that good. I learned English in about six months.Bayern Munich came forward with a good plan on how I was going to gradually go from age group to age group but made sure I would not be rushed. I just trusted what they said and went with it.”
“Now it just feels very comfortable. At the start I was very nervous and if you just look at the [star] players then, yeah, you see Robert Lewandowski regularly, it's not normal!”
“And then after a while, it just becomes normal and I can say they are kind of my friends now.”
“When I first came in it was Thiago [who caught the eye in training]. His passing technique was just amazing to watch but it's a lot of the players. Lewandowski, it's his finish and stuff, or Joshua Kimmich's technique as well. It's all top!”
“My mum still drives me to training and picks me up as well. It's fine. It's chilled but I'm working on my licence. I should be having it in the next couple of weeks.Sometimes I didn't like thinking about it because it's a hard decision and sometimes it's better to think about something else than to just make the decision. At the end of the day, I just thought what was best for me and where it would feel most comfortable and I just chose Germany and you can't look back.”
“Everything is going in the right direction. I feel like I made the right decision even though England got to the [Euro 2020] final. I feel no regrets.”
“I still have that love for England, my boys are there like Jude [Bellingham, his former England youth team-mate and current Borussia Dortmund midfielder]. I always wish Jude the best. And if England are doing well, I'm happy.”