Jamal Musiala makes huge contract demand amid Man City interest

Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala is reported to be holding out for a release clause that could facilitate a future exit from the club as talks over a new contract continue.

There is a degree of uncertainty surrounding Musiala, having now entered the final 18 months of the five-year deal he signed back in 2021 – agreed when he had not longed celebrated his 18th birthday and didn't even have a full season of first-team football under his belt.

Now 21, the Germany international is widely regarded as one of the best attacking players in Europe. But the lack of a new deal with Bayern is enough to have fans of the Bundesliga giants worried, especially with links to the likes of Manchester City ongoing.

According to SportBild, Musiala and Bayern have reached a satisfactory agreement over a new wage package – the player was not seeking remuneration to make him the club's highest paid star.

However, the two sides appear to remain at odds over other details, primarily a release clause. The suggestion is that Bayern are absolutely against including any such concession, determined to remain in control of the player's future and only sell should they wish to. For that reason, no players in the current squad are believed to have release clauses included in their respective contracts.

From Musiala's side, the wish is said to be a release clause of €175m (£146m). It is not considered a dealbreaker, but the player would consider it more important if he is to sign a five-year contract than four-year terms.  The longer the proposed contract, the more "sensible" the clause should be.

The requested amount is a vast sum, but it crucially isn't a prohibitive amount in the same way that the €1bn (£830m) clauses dished out Real Madrid and Barcelona, who are legally obliged to include a buyout figure in every contract, quite obviously are.

Manchester City, who are in need of a squad rebuild over the next few transfer windows to replace an ageing side, could feasibly trigger a €175m release clause for a player like Musiala because he would be the heart of their team for the next decade. In that scenario Bayern would be cut out.

It would be a club record transfer fee for City, but still considerably less than the 2017 world record transfer of Neymar from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for €222m (£199m).

Musiala is no stranger to living and playing in England. Although born in Stuttgart, he lived briefly in Southampton and later London between the ages of seven and 16, even representing England at junior international level before switching allegiance back to Germany.

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