Jamal Musiala has explained why he has decided to declare his international allegiance for Germany, despite England 'feeling like home'.
The 17-year-old was born in Stuttgart to a German mother and British-Nigerian father before moving to England at the age of seven, where he went on to play for Chelsea's academy. The winger then moved back to Germany to join Bayern Munich in July 2019.
Musiala represented the Three Lions at U15, U16, U17 before making his U21 debut in November last year. He also two games for Germany's U16 side in 2018. But the winger was presented with a decision when it became clear both Gareth Southgate and Joachim Low wanted to include him in their senior set-ups for the upcoming internationals.
Sportsmail revealed on Sunday that Musiala was set to choose Germany over England.
Now, in an interview with The Athletic, he has now confirmed he will declare for his birth country but admitted it had been an extremely difficult decision.
'England is home for me,' he said.
'It is difficult to find words for what England means for me because I have so many memories connected to very positive emotions.'
'I have a heart for Germany and a heart for England. Both hearts will keep on beating.'
Musiala's Bayern Munich team-mates Joshua Kimmich and Serge Gnabry are said to have been in the youngster's ear about joining them in the German national team while Low met with him in January to convince him of the pathway in place.
'I've thought about this question a lot,' Musiala said when asked why he opted for Germany.
'What is best for my future? Where do I have more chances to play? In the end, I just listened to the feeling that over a long period of time kept telling me that it was the right decision to play for Germany, the land I was born in. Still, it wasn't an easy decision for me.'
Musiala became Bayern's youngest ever player when he made his senior debut in June 2020 at the age of 17 years and 115 days.
He then became their youngest goalscorer when he netted in an 8-0 win over Schalke in September.
The winger also scored his first Champions League goal in Bayern's 4-1 victory against Lazio on Wednesday.