Jamal Musiala has revealed he could not believe what he saw the first time he trained with former Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara. The Spaniard left the Reds at the end of last season after an injury-plagued 18 months, before later announcing his retirement from football at the age of 33.

He had made 98 appearances across four seasons for Liverpool, returning three goals and six assists, after signing in a £20m move from Bayern Munich in September 2020.

An FA Cup winner with the Reds in 2022, Thiago won seven Bundesliga titles, four DFB-Pokals and the Champions League during his seven years with the Bavarians.

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And it was during his final season in Munich in 2019/20 that Musiala first broke into the Bayern first team squad, with the Spaniard leaving a lasting impression on the Germany international long after he had departed for Liverpool.

“I think every footballer remembers exactly where they were when they got “the call”, he told the Players Tribune when recalling the first ever time he was called up to the Bayern Munich first team squad for training.

“I was actually out for a jog in Munich. It was 2020, just before the pandemic. I was 17. I had my headphones in, and my phone starts ringing. I thought it was my mum.

“I pick up the phone mid-run, and it’s Tiger Gerland. He said, “I just wanted to let you know that you’re going to train with the first team tomorrow.” I was so shocked that I actually turned around and ran back home to tell my mum…

“Walk up to the gate where the first team trains. And I’m literally thinking, “I hope the security lets me in?” They let me in, thank God. But I had no idea where to go.

“I was just there to make up the numbers that day. The first team was already in a meeting about a Champions League game. So I’m just sitting in the lobby, waiting for someone to come and get me. I felt like an intern on the first day at the office. Sitting there too scared to even pull out my phone … waiting … so nervous….

“That first day was so important for me. Not as a footballer, but as a person, honestly.

“When we got on the pitch, I remember seeing Thiago playing two-touch with somebody across the entire pitch. Half to half. No mistakes. Perfect touch. I had never seen anything like it. I was just thinking: Oh my God.

“If I saw it right now, today, I would still be thinking: Oh my God. It didn’t even make sense. It was a glitch. Thiago is a glitch.

“I just remember the first drill that we did was a possession drill, and I was in the middle. All I wanted was to make sure that the level didn’t drop when I was in there.

“‘Don’t let them notice that you’re 17’. That was my entire goal. Everything after that was kind of a blur. But I remember coming off the pitch and just looking at the other players, and I knew that I belonged. I could just see it in their faces. The level didn’t drop.”