A youth prospect once nicknamed ‘the Polish Messi’ has been released by Liverpool – along with nine other players .
Legendary manager Jurgen Klopp has already left Anfield this summer, with new ‘head coach’ and former Feyenoord boss Arne Slot replacing the Premier League and Champions League winner. But the German great isn’t the only one waving farewell to Merseyside.
The Merseyside club today submitted its Premier League retained list, with confirmation of the departure of several senior and academy players. As announced last month, defensive stalwart Joel Matip – who claimed seven major honours under Klopp – and the injury prone midfield marvel Thiago Alcantara are set to leave the Reds, with their contracts expiring this summer.
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A number of youth stars are also exiting the club, including a 20-year-old talent whose proved something of an enigma for supporters over the years, given the hype that greeted his arrival. Mateusz Musialowski joined the club in the summer of 2020 from polish outfit SMS Lodz, where he had scored 133 goals in 88 games at youth level.
Highlight reels of his mazy runs and dribbles had earned him the nickname the ‘Polish Messi’ because of his low centre of gravity, wqhich saw him compared to the Argentine maestro Lionel Messi. Combined with his phenomenal stats at academy level, expectations were high for the 5ft 9in star usually deployed as an attacking midfielder or forward.
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The 20-year-old made his first team debut as a second-half substitute in a 6–1 Europa League win over Sparta Prague during the round of 16 at Anfield in March, becoming only the second Polish player to play for Liverpool (the other being Champions League winning goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek).
But the Poland youth international, who was a regular member of the U18s and U21s squads during the past four years, starring in a demolition job against Everton’s U21s in the Premier League 2 last campaign, wasn’t able to make more of an impression at first-team level.
Also leaving the club are Scouse defender and academy graduate Adam Lewis, who has spent the past two seasons on loan with Newport County, having previously played in the FA Cup win over Shrewsbury Town at Anfield in 2020. Attacking midfielder and German youth international Melkamu Frauendorf is also set to depart, having featured twice at senior level, away versus Shrewsbury in the FA Cup that same year, and in a Carabao Cup clash with Derby County.
At Academy level, Nathan Giblin, Francis Gyimah, Luke Hewitson, Niall Osborne and Cody Pennington are all set to leave the Reds. However, two young goalkeepers and Liverpool’s third choice custodian for the first team may yet remain at the club.
(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
In a statement, Liverpool said: “Contract offers have been made to senior goalkeeper Adrian – who has made 26 appearances since signing for the club in August 2019 – and Academy stoppers Jacob Poytress and Reece Trueman.
“Everyone at Liverpool FC thanks Joel, Thiago, Adam, Melkamu, Mateusz, Nathan, Francis, Luke, Niall and Cody for all their contributions and wishes them each the very best for the future.”
Adrian, 37, joined Liverpool on a free transfer from West Ham in August 2019. He starred in the UEFA Super Cup that year, winning the trophy with his penalty shootout heroics, but then made costly errors in FA Cup and Champions League exits later in the season, with his performance in the loss to Atletico Madrid at Anfield as a replacement for the injured Alisson Becker the lowlight of his time on Merseyside so far.