‘Come back to Bayern!’: Musiala details ‘dream’ of playing with United’s Zirkzee again, it ‘goes both ways’

Joshua Zirkzee’s departure from Bayern Munich seemingly hit Jamal Musiala the hardest.

The forward spent five years in Munich after joining their youth ranks from Feyenoord in 2017. He proceeded to spend two years playing for the reserves before making his senior bow in December 2019.

During his Bayern tenure, Zirkzee gained invaluable first-team experience through two loan spells with Parma and Anderlecht, the latter of which saw him notch an impressive 16 goals in his 38 league appearances. Unable to cement a starting role upon his return to the Allianz, he was then sold to Bologna in 2022.

Manchester United chiefs were evidently impressed with what they’d seen of the Dutch international throughout his time in Serie A, as the club forked out £36.5 million to sign him on a five-year deal in July. He marked his Red Devils debut with a late winner at the Stretford End on the Premier League’s opening day but has since struggled to make an impact in his subsequent two appearances.

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Musiala, a prolific talisman for both Bayern and Germany, has expressed his desire to play with his close friend again in the future, telling Welt am Sonntag: “You always joke around with friends and dream of playing together in a team one day.

“The jokes go both ways: I also told Josh that he should come back to Bayern. But you shouldn’t take that too seriously.”