Liverpool & Real Madrid linked – Could Jamal Musiala leave Bayern Munich next season?

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Two years left on contract 

Bayern Munich are under pressure to reach a number of necessary goals this season. First and foremost, new head coach Vincent Kompany must regain control in the Bundesliga and wrestle this season’s league title out of the firm grasp of Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen. Whilst doing exactly that, Kompany will also have to rebuild Bayern’s broken squad and turn them back into a team that are capable of locking horns with the very best teams in Europe to compete for the Champions League. Then and only then, will the club be capable of achieving perhaps their most important task for this season: convincing Jamal Musiala to stay at the club. 

Having rather famously been plucked from Chelsea’s youth academy and then developed into the world-class talent that he is today, Musiala has quickly gone from strength to strength at the Allianz Arena and is now undeniably one of Kompany’s most important players. However, with a contract that expires in the summer of 2026, Musiala and Bayern are now approaching a point that may force them to confront one another and see which party has the grandest ambitions for the years to come. In 12 months time the Germany international will be entering the final year of his contract and if Bayern aren’t able to convince him to sign an extension before then, they may be forced to cash in on the academy product rather than allow him to leave for free. 

“Jamal is a player like very, very few,” said Bayern board member for sport, Max Eberl, when asked about Musiala’s future at the club earlier in the week. “After almost every game, his teammates rave about him – for them it’s a pleasure to be on the pitch with him and it is a pleasure to watch him. At 21 years old, he has established himself at the highest international level, and his journey at Bayern is far from over. He wants to win titles, and that’s exactly what we want. We are always in contact, further discussions will take place. He should become the face of Bayern in the future.” So how likely are Bayern to convince Musiala to stay in Munich, over the inevitable offers that will come from every corner of Europe’s top leagues? 

Why would Musiala leave Bayern?

The question that Bayern will need to answer over the course of the next 12 months is whether they can match Musiala’s ambition of being the very best in Europe. And there’s little doubt that the Germany giants can only prove that by once again becoming a force to be reckoned with in the Champions League. Although few clubs in Europe can match Bayern for Champions League trophies, in recent years the Bundesliga side have fallen behind their continental rivals. Since winning the tournament in 2019/20, Bayern have been knocked out in the quarter-finals stage to Paris Saint-Germain, Villarreal and then Manchester City. Then lost in the semi-finals of last season’s tournament to Real Madrid. And while the clash with the Spanish giants was extremely close, the three prior defeats certainly underlined how far off the pace Bayern were to their typical standards. 

When we couple that with a dismal record in the German Cup, which has seen Bayern only get beyond the second round once since Musiala made his debut for the club, it means that the young midfielder has only won four trophies in his five seasons as a senior player at  Bayern. That may seem like a lot, but it pales in comparison to his predecessors. For example, Arjen Robben won 14 major trophies during his 10 years at the club, and in 15 seasons in Munich Thomas Müller has won 20 major trophies. And this slight dip in silverware can have a clear impact on a player’s career. This was evident for all to see last week, when Musiala was excluded from the 30-man shortlist for this year’s Ballon d’Or, which may not be the single most important trophy for him to have his ambitions set on at this moment in time, but it’s certainly a useful barometer for where he currently stands among the best players in Europe. 

Of course, the player also has to take some of the blame for his exclusion from the shortlist. As we can see in the table above, Musiala hit remarkable heights in the 22/23 season, when he picked up no less than 32 goals and assists in 47 appearances in all competitions. However, that number dropped significantly to just 20 goals and assists in 38 appearances last season – with a notable absence of any goal contributions in the club’s four league games against Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen. Musiala was also particularly quiet in Bayern’s Champions League campaign, where he picked up just one assist in six knock-out games. If the Germany international wants to be considered among the best players in Europe, he’ll have to ensure that he plays a significant role in Bayern winning their vital games this season. 

J. Musiala

Attacking Midfield

Bayern Munich

24 %

Man City

Bundesliga

Premier League

Who could sign Musiala next summer?

Regardless of whether Bayern and Musiala will stick together next season, reports have already begun suggesting that some of Europe’s biggest clubs have already shortlisted the attacking midfielder as a future transfer target. According to reports in England, Liverpool are leading the charge to sign the 21-year-old talent, with Man City, Real Madrid and PSG all linked with a move for the player too. With a whole season to play out before any reports can be taken too seriously, there’s very little concrete evidence to suggest that Musiala has already had his head turned by another big club. But with a current deal that reportedly earns him just €5 million per year at Bayern, Musiala will undoubtedly be expecting that figure to rise dramatically when the club do eventually begin negotiations over a new deal. And there’s little doubt that England and Spain’s biggest clubs will have little trouble offering the Germany international the terms he wants, if Bayern can’t or won’t.