Why Liverpool released 133-goal forward despite full debut and Jurgen Klopp declaring 'he's ready'

After four years, transfer sagas and mazy highlight reels - Mateusz Musialowski's curious Liverpool career has finally come to an end.

The 20-year-old, who moved to Merseyside in the summer of 2020, was one of several high-profile exits from Anfield this summer following the expiration of his contract.

But unlike academy team-mates Melkamu Frauendorf, Nathan Giblin, Francis Gyimah, Luke Hewitson, Niall Osborne and Coady Pennington, who were also released, Musialowski departs with a career that has produced more questions than answers.

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That's because despite interest from Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax, it was Liverpool who won the race for Musialowski's signature in June 2020 and offered the then 16-year-old permanent terms after a week-long trial at the club's academy.

And it was during his debut season that the forward lit his name up in lights as he beat Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota to win Liverpool's Goal of the Month competition for April 2021 for a spectacular individual goal for the Reds' under-18s at Newcastle United.

That was one of the many goals Musialowski scored during his career as a youth team player which, astonishingly, included scoring 133 goals in Poland's regional leagues before his move to Liverpool.

On Merseyside, though, it was never to be for Musialowski as he watched academy team-mates Kaide Gordon, Ben Doak, Jayden Danns and Lewis Koumas catch Jurgen Klopp's eye and subsequently move ahead of him in the fight for first-team opportunities.

Musialowski's failure to break into the Reds' senior side was largely due to his struggles in the Premier League 2 with the club's under-21s as he failed to establish himself as a key member of Barry Lewtas' side and managed a return of just eight goals in 38 appearances.

Included in those 38 outings was arguably his finest performance in a Liverpool shirt as he scored two goals at Kingsmedow against Chelsea in a 4-3 defeat in late 2021 after a period adjusting to the physicality of the PL2 after his promotion from the under-18s.

Sadly such eye-catching performances were few and far between and it's why, as the ECHO reported last summer, Liverpool were willing to allow Musialowski to leave the club, either permanently or on loan, as his Anfield started to stagnate.

In the end, the 2023/24 season, Musialowski's last at Anfield, was perhaps his most impressive as he tallied his joint-highest goal return in the PL2 and impressed the EFL Trophy, scoring three times in four games against Football League opposition, as Liverpool came agonisingly advanced to the knock-out stages for the first time in the competition's history.

However, that the 20-year-old was confined to outings at Morecambe, Bradford, Barrow and Blackpool while the likes of Doak, Clark and Jarell Quansah were touring the continent as part of Liverpool's Europa League squad was a clear indication that his future in the professional game was to take place away from.

But despite reports of interest from Birmingham City in January and his agent claiming that he had received offers from Poland, Musialowski stayed put at Liverpool for the final months of his contract. And in March, he was handed his first and only appearance for the club as he made a late cameo in the 6-1 thrashing of Sparta Prague in the Europa League.

"Players develop differently," said Klopp of Musialowski after the game. "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."

Musialowski will too feel he is ready for first-team football but after Tuesday's announcement, sadly that won't take place at Liverpool. But he will still remain as one of the most curious cases in recent memory at Anfield.