Germany football legend Lothar Matthäus has voiced his frustration over the instability at Bayern Munich, which he believes has dashed the chances of any player at the club winning the prestigious Ballon d’Or, Soccernet.football reports.
The club’s recent internal struggles have, in his view, prevented even the most talented players, like Jamal Musiala, from achieving individual accolades on the global stage.
Responding to Bayern Munich’s sporting director Max Eberl’s criticism over Musiala’s exclusion from the 2024 Ballon d’Or shortlist, Matthäus pointed out that the chaos surrounding the club in the past few years is the real issue.
“With the level of unrest at FC Bayern over the past two years, no player there can win the Ballon d’Or,” Matthäus told Bild, as per Bulinews.
While the 21-year-old Musiala has shown incredible potential, Matthäus believes the lack of team success will continue to limit the young star’s chances of winning football’s highest individual honour.
He explained, “To win individual awards, you simply have to win titles with your team. Part of why I won the Ballon d’Or in 1990 is that we played well at Inter and I won the World Cup with the German team. You can play brilliantly as an individual, but if your team doesn’t win, you have little chance of winning such awards.”
Matthäus stressed that for Musiala to move closer to his dream of winning the Ballon d’Or, Bayern Munich must regain their stability and dominance.
He added, “The ‘Mia San Mia’ feeling, which has completely disappeared in recent times, has to grow again in the team, but also in the boardroom.”
Bayern Munich’s troubles became evident when Thomas Tuchel replaced Julian Nagelsmann mid-season before top executives Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic were dismissed.
Despite the changes, Bayern ended last season without a title, after finishing third in the Bundesliga and crashing out of the Champions League and DFB-Pokal.
