Jamal Musiala injured his foot terribly in the 2025 Club World Cup, getting it trapped between the turf and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma before his ankle grotesquely twisted under the weight of the Italian goalkeeper. His recovery was a long one, and though he physically returned to the football pitch in January 2026, multiple muscular injuries, other setbacks, and poor form have held him back ever since.
Bayern’s needed time to get back to his previous levels, but he did not manage to do so in time for Bayern’s 2025/26 Champions League semifinal exit to Paris Saint-Germain or the 2026 World Cup, in which he was listed as one of the tournament’s big disappointments. Was it fair to heap such expectations on a 23-year-old just returning from a major injury? That is the question.
The goal was for Jamal Musiala to make a fresh start in the 2026/27 season. He had a plate removed from his foot, indicating he had finally fully recovered from his 2025 injury, and was able to complete his first 90 minutes since his big setback in a 7-0 destruction of Union Berlin, in which the former Southampton FC youngster played a crucial role. The optimism from this performance was certainly dulled by the news that he had suffered a multi-week injury on international duty with Germany. It would be easy to think that the ugly cycle of Musiala getting hurt and losing form had returned; furthermore, he has had to deal with absence seizures.
But Bayern president Herbert Hainer sees things differently, choosing to believe that the player is on the right path: “I think the entire country is hoping that Jamal will get back to the level he was at before the big injury at the Club World Cup,” Hainer said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “He was on his way to becoming one of the best players in the world. We know Jamal’s situation. The specialists have assured us that Jamal can play top-level football with this condition. We’ve seen before the international break that Jamal was on his way to being the old Jamal again. We’re not worried. He has resumed running training and will be available again in a few weeks. He feels good physically and mentally. We’re helping him and giving him all the time he needs. We are a family, especially in tough times.”
Musiala has gone through multiple unfortunate setbacks: from his initial major injury, to the heavy expectations placed on his shoulders during the 2026 World Cup that he simply could not meet, to the repeated muscular issues, and finally the absence seizures. But Hainer believes there is light at the end of the tunnel, and increasingly, that does seem to be the case. Let us hope Musiala does return to the level he once reached.
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