Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has praised youngster Mateusz Musialowski after making his first-team debut on Thursday night.
Liverpool have coasted into the quarter-finals of the Europa League after hammering Sparta Prague at Anfield.
The Reds were already 5-1 up from the first leg having effectively killed the tie off in the Czech capital last week.
In case anybody thought Liverpool might be in danger of a ridiculous collapse, the Reds put paid to that inside 15 minutes.
Darwin Nunez, Bobby Clark, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo all scored to put Liverpool 4-0 up on the night.
Veljko Birmancevic pulled one back before Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo added to the scoreline in the second half.
6-1 on the night and 11-2 on aggregate, this was about as one-sided as it could have been for Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp on Mateusz Musialowski
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was able to hand a first-team debut to Mateusz Musialowski.
The Polish talent has been highly-regarded for a while now but had been forced to wait and wait for a first-team chance.
Musialowski came on for Clark with 17 minutes of normal time left to play, finally making his Liverpool debut.
Klopp has now heaped praise on Musialowski, telling TNT Sports that he thinks Musialowski is ‘exceptional’ and is now ready to make a real impact around the Liverpool first team.
“Mateusz deserves it as well,” said Klopp. “Players develop differently. He’s an exceptional talent but obviously here at the club we see football in a specific way, I really think he’s now ready.”
The 20-year-old has hit three goals and one assist in Premier League 2 this season but is approaching crunch time at Anfield.
Musialowski needs to be playing first-team football somewhere and he has been linked away from the club in recent times.
The Daily Mail suggested in January that Birmingham City would like to sign Musialowski, which could be one to watch for the summer.
Reports last summer indicated that Polish clubs were keen to bring Musialowski back home but no deal materialised.
Liverpool may well receive more interest for Musialowski this summer and the attacking midfielder will have a decision to make; try and forge a career away from Anfield or remain patient and hope for chances under Liverpool’s next manager.
That decision will come in time, but Musialowski can now just celebrate a momentous occasion in his burgeoning career.
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