Having turned 20 in October, Mateusz Musialowski is older than most of the academy players to debut for Liverpool this season, but he is “now ready.”
Luke Chambers, James McConnell, Calum Scanlon, Jayden Danns, Trey Nyoni and Lewis Koumas were all given their first-team debuts this season while still teenagers.
Nyoni, who came off the bench in the FA Cup win over Southampton, is yet to celebrate his 17th birthday.
But as Jurgen Klopp explained to TNT Sports after Musialowski made what many felt was a belated bow in Liverpool’s 6-1 win over Sparta Prague, “players develop differently.”
“I don’t care really about the statistic, but now Mateusz, you have to say, deserved it as well,” he said, when told the Polish winger was the 56th player he had given a Liverpool debut to aged 20 or under.
“That’s how it is. He trains now a few weeks with us – he was already with us, then not.
“Players develop differently. He’s an exceptional talent, but obviously here in the club, we see football in a specific way.
“He got it now more and more, I really think he’s now ready.
“That’s why he got [his minutes]. I obviously had the choice between a few and thought ‘come on, give him these few minutes, he waited long enough’.
“Another great kid.”
Musialowski has long been considered one of the most exciting talents in Liverpool’s academy, having arrived from SMS Lodz in 2020 with claims of scoring 130 goals in 80 games for their youth side.
But despite first training under Klopp in 2021, there was clearly a longer adjustment period required when it came to his work off the ball.
The Poland under-21 international had an opportunity to leave Liverpool last summer, with a deal lined up with Austrian side TSV Hartberg, though that fell through in the late stages of negotations.
Coaches within the academy setup has noted a marked change in Musialowski’s attitude since then, with U21s manager Barry Lewtas explaining in October that “he commits to every phase of the game now.”
“Defensively he’s strong and buying in,” Lewtas told the Liverpool Echo.
“No-one can doubt his ability to dribble the ball, he can dribble past most, but he is finding a real consistency in his game.”
Whether it will translate to more first-team minutes this season remains to be seen, with there a looming reality that his contract expires at the end of 2023/24.
But it appears likely that he continue to train with Klopp’s senior squad – with the manager not against given chances to youngsters if they deserve them.
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