That would be madness - legendary goalkeeper urges Musiala to skip the World Cup

One of the best German footballers, Jamal Musiala, is slowly working his way back to rhythm and form after a serious injury.

The Bayern Munich attacking midfielder suffered a fractured fibula and tore several ligaments in his ankle during last summer’s Club World Cup (all following a heavy challenge from Gianluigi Donnarumma), which kept him out for more than six months.

During January, Vincent Kompany began reintroducing him gradually, but now, with mid-April approaching, Musiala is still quite far from reclaiming a spot in the starting lineup. There seems to be a certain lack of confidence — perhaps even fear — in his every touch and duel, which led Oliver Kahn to offer him a rather direct piece of advice: to step away from the national team for a while and not think about the World Cup for now.

“I think that would be best for him. If a player feels that something isn’t right in his game, then he needs to work on himself until he is completely ready. It seems that Musiala is currently not prepared for the biggest challenges. As a professional, he should think about that. First, he needs to return to his previous level, and only then think about big things,” Kahn said clearly during a TV appearance on Sky.

Julian Nagelsmann, in agreement with Kompany and Bayern officials, did not call up Musiala for the previous international break and matches against Ghana and Switzerland. However, German media had not previously mentioned the possibility that one of their best players might miss the World Cup.

Since January, Musiala has started only two Bundesliga matches and has come off the bench in seven. He has recorded one goal and two assists. In the Champions League, he scored against PSV and Atalanta. On Tuesday in Madrid, he came on for the final seven or eight minutes and had a few poor touches.

“In my opinion, the World Cup is not a topic right now. I believe that everyone at Bayern, including Musiala, is currently focused only on the Champions League,” said TV analyst Dietmar Hamann.