Germany Euro 2024 hope Jamal Musiala is ‘future Lionel Messi’ and idolised Ronaldinho but Hansi Flick once humiliated him in training

Jamal Musiala promises to be one of the stars of the summer as Germany target European Championship glory on home turf.

The Bayern Munich attacker has enjoyed another fine individual campaign, cementing his status among football’s most exciting young talents.

Musiala was a shining light in a disappointing year for Bayern, with his 10 goals and six assists in the league seeing him once again named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season.

Blessed with great pace, creativity and quick feet, the 21-year-old has drawn huge praise for his overall performances, with many tipping him for huge success in the future.

So much so in fact, that the former Chelsea youngster has even been likened to footballing icon Lionel Messi.

Legendary German World Cup-winning captain Lothar Matthaus made the huge comparison after Musiala impressed for his country during the 2022 World Cup, aged just 19 at the time.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Matthaus said of him: “He can be the Messi of the future, he is excellent.

“I have loved him for the last two years, I love his style of football and I love his personality.”

The highly-rated talent has already taken his first steps towards emulating Messi as he looks to seize his chance to star for Germany in a home tournament at Euro 2024.

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Musiala is set to wear the number 10 shirt for his nation at this summer’s main event, after debuting the strip in a friendly match against France in March.

And the 27-cap international revealed his great excitement at having the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of some of his heroes.

Discussing donning the famous jersey in an interview with Sports Illustrated Musiala said: ‘The number 10 is a great honour.

“It’s been a dream since I was a little kid. Whenever I saw Messi, Ronaldinho or Neymar playing football with the number 10 as a child, I always wanted to be able to wear that number one day.”

Whilst replicating the Barcelona legend’s many achievements may be a tall order, there is one area in which the former England youth international has been billed to mirror his idol.

Manchester United and England legend Rio Ferdinand has touted Musiala to one day win football’s ultimate individual accolade, which Messi has scooped a staggering eight times.

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On TNT Sports in March, Ferdinand hailed the creative player: “This guy has the potential to win the Ballon d’Or.

“I’ve said it before, he has the potential to do that if the path goes the right way for him and he’s in a successful team.”

Singing his praises, he added: “He’s a fabulous footballer. In a world where we talk about stats and data, he ticks that box.

“But it’s on the eye test where he comes alive; the way he receives the ball, he’s elusive, he rides a tackle and gets through traffic with HD. He’s a fantastic footballer.”

And Musiala will be doubly thrilled to receive such plaudits when he remembers what he had to overcome in his career to reach such heights.

Discussing his first ever training session with Bayern’s first-team in 2020, he revealed he was quickly brought down to earth: “In the rondo I got nutmegged by [then manager] Hansi Flick.

“That hurt a little bit.”

With this humiliation now firmly behind him, Musiala will be hoping to fulfil more of his huge potential over the coming weeks as he looks to add a fourth European title to Germany’s trophy cabinet.