For the first time in 28 years, a Swiss player, Granit Xhaka, has made it onto the 30-man nomination list for the Ballon d'Or. Jamal Musiala, on the other hand, is missing. Much to the annoyance of Bayern sports director Max Eberl.
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- On Wednesday, it became public which 30 players are on the list of candidates for the Ballon d'Or.
- One prominent name is missing: Jamal Musiala. The Bayern professional was not nominated despite a strong season and an outstanding European Championship. "We are surprised," says sporting director Max Eberl.
- The selection is carried out by the trade magazine France Football and will take place on October 28 in Paris.
FC Bayern Munich were extremely surprised to learn that their outstanding attacking player Jamal Musiala is not on the list of nominees for the Ballon d'Or.
"I don't begrudge any player who is nominated for the Ballon d'Or, but we at FC Bayern are very surprised that Jamal Musiala is missing from this list," commented sporting director Max Eberl on Musiala's non-nomination when asked by dpa.
"Jamal was one of the outstanding European Championship players"
In contrast to the 21-year-old Musiala, three players from German champions Bayer Leverkusen are available for selection: Alejandro Grimaldo, Florian Wirtz and Swiss national team captain Granit Xhaka. Harry Kane is the only Bayern player to make it onto the coveted list.
"Jamal was one of the outstanding players at the European Championship, was voted into the top eleven there and was one of the tournament's top scorers," Eberl argues in Musiala's favor: "FC Bayern also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League thanks to Jamal's great performances. The fact that he is now not even among the 30 best players of the past season is completely incomprehensible to us."
FC Bayern sees it this way: "In our eyes, Jamal is one of the most fascinating players in international football with absolutely exceptional, unique skills. We are very proud of what he does for FC Bayern and also for the national team."
Musiala is currently preparing in Herzogenaurach with the German national team for the start of the Nations League with the games against Hungary on Saturday (8.45pm) in Düsseldorf and three days later in Amsterdam against the Netherlands.
