There are many players making headlines in the Liverpool academy today, but few have the same level of hype as the Polish winger Mateusz Musialowski.
The 17-year-old wonderkid, who joined in 2020 among interest from some of Europe’s best sides, recently put paper on paper about his first professional contract at Anfield and is seen as a potential superstar in the beginning.
If you do not know much about Musialowski yet, here is a cheat sheet for you.
Mateusz Musialowski with an incredible goal for # LFCU18s this weekend ?? pic.twitter.com/EGCShBgQ9l
– Liverpool FC (@LFC) 16 March 2021
Musialowski scores many goals, and most are world champions.
One of the best from his time at Liverpool so far came against Newcastle under 18 in March, where Musialowski steals the show by weaving his way through five players before firing home in the top corner.
It won the Musialowski club’s goal for the month of March 2020, ending Mohamed Salah’s six-month hiatus in the process and eventually winning the Premier League under 18 goals for the season prize.
Musialowski has been called Polish Messi / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images
Comparisons with Lionel Messi have followed Musialowski for several years, and the player admits that he tried to imitate the Argentine on the pitch.
“When I see the space, I just go for it. I have seen many Lionel Messi goals like that, so I try to be like him and I want to repeat it,” he told the club’s official website.
“I love to take the ball, just dribble through it all. This is my style of playing football. When I dribble (past) the first player, I feel more confident, but when I just start running, I just walk.
“Coaches from Poland and here never told me to quit, so that’s why I keep going!”
Some in Liverpool compare him to Hazard / Lars Baron / Getty Images
Musialowski impressed almost immediately after arriving in England, so much so that he has already spent time with the first team and even played a major role in a friendly intrasquad in March.
His viral rise began with a major highlight from that game, after which some at the club quietly began comparing Musialowski to Eden Hazard, who terrorized the Premier League with Chelsea between 2012 and 2019.
No matter who you want to compare him to, you can see what people think of his style of play.
Musialowski bags many goals / Clive Brunskill / Getty Images
Players who score stupid numbers of goals at the youth level are not completely unknown, but Musialowski took it a little further than most.
In 88 matches for the Polish side SMS Lodz, he plundered no less than 133 goals. Not bad.
He then went on to score in his first two starts for Liverpool’s youth side, beating two more in his first FA Youth Cup outing.
Musialowski is happiest on the left wing, which is where most of his goals come from, but he is just as comfortable moving around in attack if needed.
Liverpool have often used him as a ten and also as a second striker, while in Poland he spent time on the right wing as well.
His future lies on the left side, but do not be surprised to see Musialowski earn more minutes elsewhere.
Musialowski’s stock is rising at an astronomical rate in England, but this has been the case for several years in Poland.
In fact, the national legend and chairman of the Polish FA Zbigniew Boniek 2014 went out on a limb by urging his Twitter followers to ‘remember the name’ Mateusz Musialowski.
That praise came when the youngster kicked around under the age of 14, and so far it seems like a good piece of advice.
Arsenal had expected to sign Musialowski / Steve Welsh / Getty Images
Liverpool landed Musialowski was actually something of a coup as all indications are that they had missed his signing for Arsenal.
The Gunners took Musialowski to court and had a contract drawn up, but due to some confusion created when Arsenal rejected his scouting line-up, he ended up through the cracks.
Manchester City were keen, as were a number of other sides from across Europe, but Liverpool lured him in after seeing him on trial for a week.
Goals in the first and last minutes gave # LFCU18s a dramatic 2-1 victory over @ Everton U18s today.
Full match report ??
– Liverpool FC (@LFC) 27 February 2021
It did not take Musialowski long to figure out the gap on Merseyside. In February 2021, he beat the winner at the last minute of a derby against Evertons under 18 and admitted that he loved that goal a little more than most others.
“I understand [how big that is], “he admitted.” It was a big game. I made a mistake for their goal, I dropped the ball in midfield, so I knew I had to do something, and I did.
“I know it was a big game and I’m really happy to have scored that goal.”
