The best holiday gift for Bayern Munich? The return of wunderkind Jamal Musiala

Jamal Musiala’s rise was quick and impressive — and people throughout world soccer were taking notice.

Musiala, a major catalyst for Bayern Munich winning the Bundesliga last season finished 2024 with 21 goals in all competitive matches for Bayern alongside eight assists. His biggest moment of the season was a four-goal performance against Mainz last October, which assuredly fueled Bayern locking in a five-year contract extension in February.

What’s impressive about all of this is that Musiala, who shares dual citizenship with Nigeria and England, signed that contract a few days before his 22nd birthday.

Bayern took part in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup, and Musiala came to the United States, picking up right where he left off, scoring a hat trick against Auckland City in what amounted to a 10-0 Bayern rout of the Australian Premier League side.

On July 5, in the club’s match against Paris St. Germain at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Musiala suffered one of the most brutal hits after colliding with former PSG and Italian national team goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The collision left him with a fractured fibula and a dislocated ankle.

To make matters worse, PSG would go on to defeat Bayern, 2-0, knocking the German side out of the competition in the quarterfinal stage.

With his head in jersey, Musiala weeped as he was stretchered off the field. But while that injury could’ve meant the end, according to World Soccer Talk, Musiala, who had surgery a few days later was noted to have said:

“These things happen, I’m going to focus on the positives … I can’t wait to come back.”

Musiala has a goal of returning to Bayern this season, and the team appears to be welcoming back their wunderkind with open arms. He’s been training and in late September the team confirmed that Musiala has been included on the club’s roster for upcoming Champions League matchups.

Bayern’s next group stage matchup will find the team taking on Greek side Pafos on Tuesday, (3 p.m. ET, Paramount+), but its likely Musiala will miss the match the same way he missed the club’s Champions League opener against Chelsea on Sept. 18, a match that resulted in a 3-1 win over the FIFA Club World Cup champions.

According to Bavarian Football Works, Musiala could see action as soon as November with a goal of being back in the full swing of things by December.

Should that hold true, it would be a timeline that would serve as a bit of a holiday gift to Musiala for his hard work and dedication to get back onto the pitch — and for Bayern fans everywhere who are finding it hard to wait for his return to the lineup.