The University of Montevallo is turning the page to the next chapter in its 127-year old story
KIRCHHEIM BEI MÜNCHEN, Germany -- Cast your mind back to 2016, when two young footballers became best friends playing for <a href="/soccer/team?id=448">England</a>'s U15s
They'd grow closer as they represented the country's U16s
Musiala and Bellingham are the future of football; in the here and now
they're in a neck-and-neck race for this year's Golden Boy trophy
awarded to the best player in Europe under the age of 21
and I think it reflects how hard I've worked for the years and everything
but it's not something I would be 100% sad [to lose] or anything," Musiala told ESPN in an exclusive interview during the offseason
"I think I just have to keep working and then the individual trophies will come."
Whether the trophy goes to Musiala or Bellingham
these two are destined to become the figurative golden boys of football for years to come
"It's definitely crazy," Musiala said of growing up in the game alongside Bellingham
"If you look at when we were still roommates at the England national team
and then if you probably told us then in four years or something ..
Jude would be at Real Madrid and I'll be at Bayern
[we] probably wouldn't have believed it at the moment
While Bellingham comes from a football family
with his dad Mark Bellingham being a prolific non-league striker for many years
had to blaze his own trail into elite football
Speaking with Musiala offers a glimpse of the genuine
he does not take for granted his starring role at Bayern
nor his standing as one of the best young playmakers in the world
and then day for day at home and everything
just try to do everything that can take me to the next level," the 20-year-old said
"And I want to improve season after season and look at the little things which can take me further
And I try to start at a young age with nutrition
That mindset also helps Musiala overcome setbacks, whether it's his rather unlucky outing at the 2022 <a href="/soccer/league/_/name/FIFA.WORLD">World Cup</a> or some injury woes earlier this season
Jamal Musiala's sensational 2022-23 season have made him a finalist for this year's Golden Boy award.&nbsp;Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty ImagesScoring the title-winning goal from the training pitchNaturally
coaches are in awe of the tactical possibilities Musiala offers them
10 to a central midfielder to a hybrid winger
Tuchel enjoys using Musiala's skills to create an advantage for his attack against opponents like United
Bayern's record signing who joined the club in August
is said to be very enthusiastic about the potential interplay with Musiala and what their partnership can do for the England captain
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"I always ask for advice or anything because there's a lot of players I play around with who've been around longer than I have
and there's so many people who can give me advice," Musiala said
"And I just try to take everything on and try and implement it and learn from it and try to get better."
There are few in football who know as much about being a top-class attacking player as Kane
Bayern felt it necessary to sign Kane after a rather disappointing 2022-23 campaign in which the club eked out a last-minute Bundesliga title
but were knocked out from both the Champions League and the German Cup in the quarterfinals
While Musiala played especially well over the first half of the season
he was not immune to the team's downward spiral that culminated in the sacking of manager Julian Nagelsmann in late March
"[I] feel like after the World Cup it was difficult for us as a whole team
and it was just kind of tough to get that going," Musiala said
"And I think we saw we were just not winning games as comfortably as we were [before] and weren't playing how we wanted to play or how we were playing before."
In the end, he scored a late goal against <a href="/soccer/team?id=122">FC Cologne</a> on the final matchday of the Bundesliga season, the goal that secured Bayern their 33rd championship. Even that shot, when Musiala opened the field with one touch at the edge of the penalty box and then delivered a curler past goalkeeper <a href="/soccer/player/_/id/205751/marvin-schwabe">Marvin Schwäbe</a>
"I trained that exact position around there in training before," he said
"I think there was a video where I trained it where it looked exactly the same
and I think I just try and do a lot of repetitions in training of the positions I might be in the game
I was training the right position I guess."
Bayern's start to their 2023-24 campaign has not gone particularly well. They have been able to rediscover their attacking nous after the 3-0 German Super Cup loss to <a href="/soccer/team?id=11420">RB Leipzig</a> at Allianz Arena, yet they remain vulnerable defensively as seen in recent games against Manchester United and <a href="/soccer/team?id=131">Bayer Leverkusen</a>
Musiala and his teammates will again meet RB Leipzig
who under manager Marco Rose have beaten Bayern twice in a row
The Bavarians may very well need another of Musiala's awe-inspiring performances
Von: <a class="id-Story-authors-link lp_west_author" href="https://www.merkur.de/autoren/16758/" title="Zur Autorenseite von Tanja Kipke" data-id-ec='{"shn":"Story","sht":"Container","p":{"containerType":"Authors","displayType":"Story Author-Link","type":"INSERTED_AUTHORS","value":"Tanja Kipke","position":"1","storyElementPosition":"4","storyElementCount":"44"}}' data-k5a-pos=west_author>Tanja Kipke</a>
Saharastaub und Unwetter: 25 spektakuläre Bilder","text":"Farbenfrohe Naturschauspiele oder düstere Himmelsphänomene: Diese 25 Wetter-Fotos aus Bayern zeigen Außergewöhnliches.","url":"https://www.merkur.de/bayern/25-spektakulaeren-bilder-beeindrucken-wetterphaenomene-bayern-diese-zr-93386865.html"};c&&a.navigator.canShare(d)&&(c.style.display="",c.addEventListener("click",b=>{b.preventDefault(),a.setTimeout(function(){a.navigator.share(d)},0)}))}})(window,document);
Farbenfrohe Naturschauspiele oder düstere Himmelsphänomene: Das Wetter zeigt sich von seinen unterschiedlichsten Seiten
Diese 25 Fotos aus Bayern zeigen Außergewöhnliches
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