Robin Gosens has expressed his belief that "very cute" Jamal Musiala can go onto have a "great career" if he continues on his current trajectory.
Musiala has quickly emerged as one of the most promising young midfielders in Europe since bursting onto the senior stage at Bayern Munich in 2020.
The 18-year-old is currently starring at the European Championship with Germany, having switched allegiance from England in February, and Gosens has been impressed with the maturity he has shown so far.
What's been said?
The Atalanta star admits that Musiala is far more sensible and disciplined than he was at his age, and expects him to go on and reach the very highest level of the game.
Speaking ahead of Germany's last-16 clash against England on Tuesday, Gosens told a press conference: "When I was 18, I was still out with my boys and had nothing to do with professional football.
"He is very cute, open and capable of learning. He's a level-headed boy, very down to earth.
"If it continues like this, it will help him to have a great career. He should just enjoy it."
Musiala's career record
Musiala made his debut for Bayern last June in a Bundesliga clash against Freiburg, becoming the club's youngest ever player in the competition at 17 years and 115 days old.
The teenager has since made 37 further appearances across all competitions, scoring seven goals, while also picking up his first league winners' medal.
Joachim Low handed Musiala his first senior outing for Germany in a World Cup qualification win against Iceland in March, and he now has four caps to his name, the last of which was earned after he came off the bench in their 2-2 draw with Hungary in their final Euro 2020 group game.
Gosens' verdict on England
Gosens went on to admit that Germany will have to be wary of England's attacking firepower at Wembley as they bid to set up a quarter-final clash against either Sweden or Ukraine.
"It's their great strength, they have a lot of speed and offensive power. For me, it's primarily the defence that is challenged," he said.
"We have to take their strengths out of the game first before we can play to our strengths."
Gosens also discussed the mood in Low's squad following their disappointing performance against Hungary, insisting the 4-2 win against Portugal on matchday two was a better indication of how strong they can be at their best.
"I think our real face was the one against Portugal. After the Portugal game, we were the nation's heroes and after Hungary, we were the nation's bogeymen," he continued.
"The contrast is a bit too big for me. We made some mistakes in the preliminary round. But we advanced from the most difficult European Championship group."
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