'People go to the stadium for him' - why Bayern had to keep Musiala

Jamal Musiala has signed a new contract that will keep him at Bayern Munich until at least 2030

"People go to the stadium because of Jamal Musiala. He is an extraordinary player. Sometimes, you have the feeling gravity doesn't apply to him."

That was the praise for the 21-year-old from Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer as the club announced Musiala had extended his contract until 2030.

It must be a huge relief for the record German champions because he was close to entering the final year of his existing deal.

Anything other than an extension might have put Bayern in an incredibly tough spot with Premier League and La Liga clubs keen.

While sources close to the club had indicated negotiations between Bayern and Musiala's representatives were going well at the end of last year, it still took a while before a final agreement was reached.

Based on his new contract, Musiala will earn £20.8m per year, making him one of the top earners at Bayern, alongside England captain Harry Kane.

The Musiala-Kane partnership is also an important element of the team's play that has secured them a comfortable lead in the Bundesliga - they are currently eight points clear of Bayer Leverkusen, who they visit at the BayArena on Saturday.

Friday's announcement might very well lift Bayern's spirits even higher going into the top-of-the-table encounter. Manager Vincent Kompany and director of sport Max Eberl are determined to build the squad around Musiala, a Chelsea academy graduate who joined Bayern in 2019.

Even though he was not as well known to the wider public at the time of his move from England, Bayern were hoping they had secured a rare diamond at the time.

And they certainly did. Within a few years, the Stuttgart-born Musiala rose from a promising midfielder to one of Europe's best playmakers.

Even though he featured for England's youth national teams until November 2020, he eventually decided to play for Germany, establishing himself as the kingpin of Die Mannschaft alongside Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz.

Moments of magic & the 'perfect representative'

Musiala, 21, has already won the Bundesliga four times

While the negotiations between both parties were tough in recent months, Musiala did not enter transfer talks with any other clubs, indicating that he intended to stay with the 33-time German champions.

But as things go in modern football, he still wanted to receive a significant pay raise and a release clause, which was granted. The release clause can be triggered for £145m before the final year of his contract and then goes down to £83m.

Just last week, it was revealed Kane also possesses certain release clauses that can be triggered before the respective ends of the January transfer windows to initiate a move for the summer.

As valuable as the England captain has been in his role as Bayern's top-notch goalscorer, the 31-year-old is obviously not seen as a long-term solution for Bayern, with an eventual return to the Premier League - where Kane could eventually break Alan Shearer's goalscoring record - appearing likely.

Meanwhile, Musiala is 10 years younger than Kane and the perfect representative for Bayern, who have always been anxious to assemble the best German players, mixed with a number of high-profile talents from abroad.

Musiala has already created countless moments of magic for Bayern, including his championship-clinching goal against Cologne in May 2023, when the team snatched the Bundesliga title from Borussia Dortmund during the final minutes of the season.

Musiala played for England's youth teams but opted to represent Germany, the country of his birth

When Musiala misses games or can only play a limited number of minutes due to an injury, his absence has been felt as the team does not look the same at all.

Bayern's 4-1 loss to Barcelona in the Uefa Champions League earlier this season was a prime example.

Musiala himself has talked about how he can be almost obsessed with improving his game through repetition and specialised training, for example practising certain shooting positions and movements.

"I just try to do everything that can take me to the next level," he said in 2023. "And I want to improve season after season and look at the little things which can take me further.

"I try to start at a young age with nutrition, the extra work so I can have more stamina, and then season by season, hopefully I get better."

There can be no doubt he has improved, instead of just resting on his natural talent as a footballer, and can do even further to put his name high among the world's best players in the future.

It is the reason why Musiala has just signed the most lucrative contract extension in German Bundesliga history.