How Bayern Munich poached Jamal Musiala from Chelsea

Bayern Munich technical director Marco Neppe has revealed that the club made the decision to do everything they could to sign the ‘spectacular’ Jamal Musiala after seeing him in action as a 15-year-old for an England junior team.

Although German-born, Musiala lived in England from the age of seven and was briefly in the youth setup at Southampton before joining Chelsea’s academy when he was eight.

Musiala was at Chelsea for eight years in total, going on to represent England at various age groups, but when Bayern came calling in 2019 he decided to head back to Germany. That ultimately also influenced his decision to choose the country of his birth at senior international level.

“It was an international tournament and Jamal was playing for the England under-16 national team,” Neppe told Sky Sport Germany, recalling his first time scouting Musiala.

“Honestly, I can hardly remember any result, but I can remember two players very clearly: Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala, who played together for England. They were spectacular.”

Neppe praised Musiala, now 19 and a key player for both Bayern and Germany, for his ‘incredible touch, skills and movement', as well as his dribbling ability.

“We kept talking about the name Jamal Musiala in our scouting sessions. He was 15 years old then. It was difficult to get video footage. So it was all about live scouting. We immediately had the unanimous opinion that we would do everything we could to bring him to Bayern,” he continued.

The key factor in persuading Musiala to leave Chelsea in favour of joining Bayern was a meeting in London where Neppe was able to meet the player’s family.

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“I had a very interesting meeting in London, was able to get to know his family and also had talks with him. I remember that very well because I was aware that at this point I was speaking to a 15-year-old who would not have much of a conversation,” the official revealed.

“Jamal was actually not very talkative, but his statements were so clear. It spoke for him and his ambitions. It gave me a good feeling about how he is and what ambitious path he wants to go.”

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