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Lothar Matthaus has backed Bayern Munich playmaker Jamal Musiala to be a potential Ballon d'Or winner in the future and has compared the youngster to Lionel Messi.
At 19, Musiala is considered one of the brightest prospects in European football and has already made 81 appearances for the Bavarians. The former England youth international has earned 15 Germany caps and has netted three times in two Bundesliga appearances this term.
Matthaus, who captained West Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup and won the Ballon d'Or later that year, has backed Musiala for greatness. He even told Eurosport that the teenager reminds him a bit of Messi.
When asked to explain his point, the iconic defender stated:
"If things keep going like this, he will win a Ballon d'Or one day. He could become the inheritor of Robert Lewandowski but we must be patient. It won't happen today or tomorrow. But he has everything required and he is already in the best position to do it."
Musiala is one of the leading contenders for this year's Golden Boy award. Explained that the youngster is the 'future' of Bayern Munich, Matthaus added:
"Musiala makes the difference and is scoring more goals. If someone wanted to buy him now, the transfer fee would be close to €150 million. That's not an issue anyway, because he's certainly not for sale."
Organizers explain why Lionel Messi was not nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or award
Last year's winner of the award failed to make the 30-man shortlist for the first time since 2005 after enduring a disappointing debut season with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
France Football’s deputy editor-in-chief Emmanuel Bojan explained why the seven-time winner of football's most prestigious award failed to make the cut this year. As quoted by Eurosport, he stated:
“Inevitably, Lionel Messi, with his 15 appearances in a row since 2006, his seven Ballon d'Or victories, his title holder status, weighs very heavily when it comes to the final choice."
The Argentinian was part of the discussions to integrate the 30, but the new criteria for the Ballon d'Or were unfavorable to him: disappearance of the criterion of a player's entire career, and new periodicity, modeled on a season of football and no longer over a calendar year, which does not make it possible to integrate the Copa America of July 11, 2021."
Speaking about the Argentine's debut season in Ligue 1, Bojan added:
"And then, it must be admitted that his first season in Paris was very disappointing both in terms of the visual impression and the statistics."
