"When will the Magic Musiala return?" – Kompany on Bayern star’s bid to rediscover top form
By Rune Gjerulff@runegjerulff
"When will the Magic Musiala return?" – Kompany on Bayern star’s bid to rediscover top form
Vincent Kompany believes Jamal Musiala is making progress, but says there is still room for improvement when it comes to producing his trademark "magic" moments.
Photo by Leonhard Simon/Getty Images
Jamal Musiala continues his gradual return to peak condition following the severe ankle injury he suffered at last summer’s Club World Cup.
Having produced a goal and three assists in his last three matches, the 23-year-old has shown promising signs lately.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany has also been encouraged by the midfielder’s progress, while noting that the “magic” element of his game is still to fully re-emerge.
“Jamal Musiala is in a good phase at the moment. I said very early on: He's developed physically, he's now also physically close to his best level, not just in terms of strength, but also in terms of his willingness to run. He can press like we do. He wins tackles,” Kompany said at a press conference on Tuesday ahead of Bayern Munich's DFB-Pokal semi-final clash with Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.
"Now the question is: when will the Magic Musiala return? And he'll 100 per cent come back at some point; the moments are already there. What he's doing at the moment is: He's incredibly dangerous! The way he often already gets into dangerous areas. He's racked up nine goal contributions in 600 minutes - he's shown that he's ready! What will be great for me is when freedom eventually returns. Then we might have a developed version of Jamal Musiala - I'm looking forward to that."
With Serge Gnabry expected to miss the rest of the season due to injury, Musiala is set to play a key role in Bayern’s upcoming crunch fixtures against Leverkusen and Paris Saint-Germain.