Liverpool release player who Birmingham City tried to sign in transfer window

Mateusz Musialowski, the playmaker who was on Birmingham City's radar in the January transfer window, is leaving Liverpool at the end of his contract, the Reds have confirmed.

Musialowski, who hails from Poland, was picked up by Liverpool scouts and added to their academy as a teenager in 2020. The attacker was set to join Austrian side TSV Hartberg in the summer before the deal fell through at the last minute and he ended up staying put at Anfield.

The 20-year-old is keen for regular football but always appeared to be some way off securing a regular supply of that on Merseyside, where even his academy counterparts like Lewis Koumas and Jayden Danns were granted opportunities ahead of him, let alone the star-studded first-team squad.

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Departing manager Jurgen Klopp did afford Musialowski one run-out; he came on in the second half of the second leg of the Europa League tie with Sparta Prague, which the Reds convincingly won 11-2. Musialowski replaced fellow youngster Bobby Clark - son of former Blues boss Lee - with under 20 minutes left to play.

Klopp showered praise on Musialowski and outlined how much of a player he considers him to be when he spoke after the win: “Mateusz is an exceptional talent, I really think he’s now ready.”

But that is the only first-team exposure that Musialowski has had at Anfield, although he did score in three successive EFL Trophy appearances last season - in a win over Morecambe and defeats by Blackpool and Barrow. Now, the youngster - previously dubbed the 'Polish Messi' because of style of play - is on the look-out for his next challenge.

Along with Musialowski, Liverpool have confirmed that Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip, Adam Lewis, Melkamu Frauendorf, Nathan Giblin, Francis Gyimah, Luke Hewitson, Niall Osborne and Cody Pennington will also be leaving the club.

Blues, it's understood, came very close to bringing Musialowski to the club in the January transfer window as then manager Tony Mowbray looked to increase the options within his squad. Blues managed to add Alex Pritchard, Andre Dozzell and Paik Seung-ho in the winter market.

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