Bayern Munich and Germany attacking star Jamal Musiala has opened up about a manageable neurological condition after experiencing a second on-pitch collapse in just four days during the club’s pre-season friendly fixture against 1. FC Heidenheim. The 23-year-old, one of the most promising young talents in European football, had entered Tuesday’s match as a second-half substitute, but lasted only eight minutes before falling unconscious in an incident that mirrored his collapse against RB Leipzig four days prior.
Teammates, including new England captain and Bayern star Harry Kane, immediately surrounded Musiala to offer comfort after the incident. In the wake of the second collapse, Musiala took to Instagram to confirm he is living with easily treatable absence seizures, which stem from a form of neurological dysfunction.
Bayern Munich’s hierarchy confirmed the club had been aware of Musiala’s underlying condition prior to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but the issue had never before impacted his ability to compete on the pitch. “We have known about the problems for some time, but the incident against Leipzig last weekend was the first time it happened in front of a crowd and visible to everyone,” club honorary president Uli Hoeness told Sky Sports. “We hoped the medication he started would keep it under control and that it would not reoccur so quickly. When it happened again four days later in exactly the same way, I was shocked.”
The club’s decision to clear Musiala for play just days after his first collapse drew criticism from fans, but Bayern officials have moved quickly to defend their process, stating that leading neurologists and medical specialists provided written clearance that the German international could safely participate in high-level professional football. Hoeness added: “Without that written confirmation, we would have been negligent. Now that we have it, we can rest a little easier, but this is uncharted territory for us. I rarely struggle for words or solutions, but we will have to navigate this new situation step by step.”
Kane, who joined Bayern from Tottenham Hotspur in 2023, says the entire first-team squad is rallying around their star teammate. “Jamal is going through a tough period right now,” Kane told BBC Sport. “He has opened up about his small condition on social media, and our only focus right now is supporting him. This is something not everyone goes through, but many people have managed it successfully before, and he is doing everything possible to get himself in the best position possible. He is an incredibly talented player, a huge part of this squad, and everyone here – from the players to the staff, to his friends and family – is fully behind him. I saw first-hand how hard he worked to recover from his injury last season, and we will all be here to help him through this.”
To contextualize Musiala’s condition, medical experts explain that absence seizures are a form of generalized seizure that most commonly impacts children and young adults, split into two categories: typical and atypical. Dr. Meneka Sidhu, a consultant neurologist at London’s National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, notes that typical absence seizures usually last only a few seconds, with affected individuals often appearing to be daydreaming or staring blankly. During an episode, patients experience varying levels of awareness loss, which can lead to loss of balance and unresponsiveness. Atypical absence seizures last longer, and may come with involuntary movements such as hand fidgeting, eyelid fluttering or lip smacking, and can also cause patients to fall.
While repeated episodes over a 24-hour period can be an indicator of epilepsy, the condition is widely manageable with prescription medication. “For anyone living with epilepsy, identifying triggers is a key part of management,” Dr. Sidhu explained. “For elite athletes, possible triggers can include hyperventilation and dehydration. When the condition is properly treated, there is no reason absence seizures should prevent anyone from competing in sport at any level.”
Musiala is far from the first elite athlete to manage this condition. Northampton Saints and England rugby union star Tommy Freeman began experiencing absence seizures at age 14, and after an epilepsy diagnosis, he continues to compete at the highest level of the sport while managing his condition with daily medication.
The recent collapse is just the latest in a string of unfortunate setbacks for Musiala over the past 18 months, a period that has limited his on-pitch contribution for Bayern despite his standing as one of the club’s highest-paid players alongside Kane. His 2024-25 Bundesliga campaign was cut short by injury in April 2025, and just over a week later he was involved in a serious road traffic accident. He recovered in time to feature at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, but suffered a broken leg and dislocated ankle in the quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain, an injury that ruled him out for 196 days.
A metal plate was inserted to support his recovery, and Musiala played through the 2026 World Cup in North America with the plate still in place, making four appearances for Germany before it was removed in July 2026. The subsequent surgery limited his pre-season training ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
German football expert Constantin Eckner notes that the string of injuries and now this new neurological issue have already impacted Musiala’s value and on-pitch output. “Musiala has barely featured over the past 18 months,” Eckner explained. “He came back for the Club World Cup but broke his leg in a collision with Gianluigi Donnarumma, and spent six months playing through pain with a metal plate in his foot while dealing with persistent ankle issues. Naturally, his performances have not lived up to his usual standard, and he already faced a tough start to the new season given he missed large parts of pre-season training following the plate removal. Now this is another unexpected stumbling block.”
Eckner added that Bayern’s £43 million summer signing of Moroccan attacking midfielder Ismael Saibari was partly made to offset the ongoing risk of Musiala’s fitness issues. “Musiala is one of Bayern’s top earners alongside Kane, but his contribution over the past 18 months has been nowhere near matching that,” he said. “He is still young, and his situation can absolutely turn around, but right now, it would be unrealistic for any club to trigger his nine-figure release clause that becomes available next summer.”