Rudi Völler firmly believes Jamal Musiala will return to his former form. Following Uli Hoeneß’s doubts, the DFB’s sporting director is backing the Bayern star.
Jamal Musiala is receiving strong support from Rudi Völler during a difficult phase. While the FC Bayern attacking player works on his comeback, the DFB sports director views his athletic future in a very positive light. He does not share the doubts that were recently expressed publicly.
“I’m convinced that he’ll make a comeback. There’s no reason to be skeptical. I’m firmly convinced that we’ll see Jamal Musiala in top form—he’s still very young, after all—at many, many tournaments,” Völler explained to DAZN.
Musiala will also miss the German national team’s final two Nations League group stage matches. Since suffering a muscle injury during the warm-up before the match in the Netherlands, the 23-year-old has been waiting to return to competition. Although he has since resumed training with a group at Säbener Straße, it wasn’t enough this time to earn a call-up from national team coach Jürgen Klopp.
Völler promises Musiala his full support
The DFB is closely monitoring Musiala’s progress and staying in touch with the Munich club. “We’re, of course, always kept informed about how he’s doing—whether it’s regarding the illness he had or his injury,” Völler reported.
He distinguishes between the Bayern pro’s different health issues. “Of course, he has a condition that isn’t common in professional sports, but I actually thought it was good that it’s now public knowledge and that it’s being handled sensibly,” said the DFB’s sporting director regarding Musiala’s absences. He said he’s “more worried” “when he has a muscle injury every now and then.”
The repeated setbacks have recently made Musiala’s road to recovery more difficult. Völler is aware of this strain, but combines his optimism with a clear promise: “There have been a few setbacks for him, but things are moving forward. He has everyone’s full support.”
In doing so, he takes a different stance than Uli Hoeneß, who had publicly expressed doubts about Musiala’s ability to permanently return to his former level of performance. Völler, however, does not want to infer a fundamental conflict from this.
He doesn’t view the statements “as that dramatic. We all know Uli. Maybe he just likes to be a bit provocative in his own way. But he never means any harm—that’s always been his great strength: he’s extremely protective of his own players and also offers them support. He’ll praise one player one moment and be a bit more critical of another the next, but deep down, he loves them all.”