Why Eberl went public with his criticism of Musiala's Ballon d'Or exclusion

According to Bild, there is a clear reason why Max Eberl publicly criticized the fact that Jamal Musiala has not been nominated for the Ballon d’Or.

After the 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or were announced earlier this week, Bayern board member Max Eberl said he was stunned that Jamal Musiala was not on the list.

According to Bild, Eberl deliberately chose to go public with his harsh criticism for a very specific reason: He wants to put Bayern in as good a position as possible to extend the attacking midfielder’s contract beyond 2026.

Musiala’s performances for club and country have attracted the interest of Europe’s top clubs, and Bayern are keen to tie him down for the long term.

The 21-year-old attaches great importance to sporting prospects, both in terms of team success and individual titles, and has openly admitted that winning the Ballon d’Or is one of his career goals.

Bayern are keen to avoid giving the youngster the impression that this will be difficult to achieve with them.