Jamal Musiala, an England age-group talent, represents Germany superbly. England have six players starting today who could have represented other countries.
It's a more fluid world in football.
Jamal Musiala’s stunning impact on this European Championship will come as little surprise to any of his old coaches and teachers at Whitgift School in south London or the coaches in the England age-group system, who saw him gain 21 caps from Under-15s to Under-21s. Musiala’s talent stood out early. England wanted this clever No 10, such a threat between the lines, to continue on the pathway, heading inevitably towards Gareth Southgate’s senior side. Instead, he chose Germany, and the clever, sinewy, technical 21-year-old has now scored against Scotland and Hungary at the Euros.
So there has been much talk of whether the FA missed a trick in letting Musiala go to Germany? Could Southgate have done more to persuade him to remain in the England fold? The fact is that they tried but the Stuttgart-born Musiala, whose family moved to England when he was seven, was by back playing in Germany from 16. Bayern Munich, whom he joined from Chelsea’s academy, offered more of a pathway to the first team than Chelsea appeared to.