Jamal Musiala’s fractured fibula, sustained in the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinal defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, puts Bayern Munich in a difficult position. First, of course, the club will focus on ensuring Musiala is taken care of and is set on the road to recovery as soon as can be. But after that, thoughts need to turn to replacing him. Because, as it stands, the Bavarians seriously lack depth up front.
With Musiala’s injury and Thomas Müller’s departure, the list of fit attackers reads like this: Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry, Michael Olise, Harry Kane. That is just four fit forwards for four attacking positions. That would not be enough for a small tournament, let alone a full season. So, Bayern needs to act and fill out the squad’s attacking positions. Only the club have already tried and failed, seeing advances for Florian Wirtz, Bradley Barcola and Nico Williams, among others, fail. Perhaps the Bavarians need to stop looking for stars from abroad and look at some budding talent within the Bundesliga.
This writer’s candidate for helping to fill the depth chart of Bayern’s attack is VfB Stuttgart attacking midfielder Enzo Millot. Why? Let’s see:
Enzo Millot has an affordable release clause
Before we get to discussing the fit of the player for Die Rekordmeister, the matter of finances is an important one. After Bayern failed to land Wirtz, others clubs realized that the Bavarians have a need to sign forwards and were willing to splash over €100 million on one. This clearly gives any selling club the advantage in negotiations over Bayern if the Bavarians were to approach them for their player.
Unless, of course, the player has a release clause.
Furthermore, Sky reports (as captured by OneFootball) that Millot’s release clause stands at a paltry €18 million. Perhaps the report is wrong, perhaps not. But we know he has a release clause and that it is around that range. Even if the clause were 50% higher, the signing would be a bargain. This would not only be a cheap transfer (for Bayern’s standards) but also bypass the need to work with a losing hand in negotiations.
He can replicate a good deal of what Musiala brings
With the loss of Jamal Musiala, Bayern will need to find a way replace his qualities. The way Musiala moves the ball forward from the defense to the attack, the way he unlocks defenses with his clever movements, his work off the ball and how he can progress the ball between the lines. Millot is not a player at the level of Musiala and cannot replicate everything perfectly, but he still has many of the same qualities that would help soften the blow of Musiala’s absence. Millot will also press the opposition hard, wriggle his way past a few players and link the midfield and the attack. If you want a budget version of Musiala, Millot is a good candidate.
But he can also do more
One has to be careful with trying to replace Musiala. As it stands, Musiala might be fit again in the new year and so signing a replacement to a four or five-year deal may seem redundant in six months. Instead, the replacement will ideally replicate a certain amount of Musiala’s qualities while still offering value once the Bavarians’ star player has made his comeback.
Indeed, Millot can do that too. He is a very positionally flexible player, able to move further back into a midfield partnership or play out wide on the wing, so he will be able to cover multiple positions and help with the Bavarians’ current lack of depth up front. Even after Musiala returns, Bayern will need that flexibility.
Furthermore, Millot brings a playmaking quality Bayern arguably still needs. Musiala is great at many things and his passing continues to improve every year, but that passing is still not elite yet. One could perhaps make a case that Millot is better than Musiala in some aspects of passing. Comparing Musiala’s FBREF profile to Millot’s, one can see some notable differences in their passing stats. Per 90 minutes, Millot progresses the ball 159 yards to Musiala’s 127 and plays 4.23 passes into the final third compared to 3.55 as well as completing 45 passes compared to 39. There is a clear pattern: Millot’s passing is more forward thinking and brings the team farther up the field.
Millot also suffers in other categories compared to Musiala, but put him in a team like Bayern instead of 9th place Stuttgart and things can only get better. Besides, it shows that Musiala and Millot have different qualities and could co-exist on a footballing pitch. Millot can replace Musiala, but he will be useful to the team even after the team’s star returns.
He’s French
It seems like there is a requirement that Bayern signs a Frenchman every summer. Millot is French. Problem solved.
He may be young, but he is also experienced
Millot may be a young player, but he is not green either. At 22, he is actually seven months older than Musiala and has spent the last four years in the Bundesliga, racking up 89 appearances for Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, winning the DFB-Pokal and playing a season in the Champions League.
Is there a better combination of skill, experience, youth and fit in the Bayern squad than Millot for a reported €18 million? It makes sense that Bayern were not looking to pursue Millot before Musiala’s injury, given Musiala would have hoovered up all the minutes and the club have a lot of faith in Paul Wanner’s development. But the injury will force Bayern to reconsider and a more experienced replacement, who can also help the team in the future, needs to be signed. One will be hard pressed to find a better answer to this problem than VfB Stuttgart’s Enzo Millot.
What do you think? Does this suggestion make sense? Who else would you want to see Bayern sign? Let us know in the comments below.