Liverpool will sign a winger this summer. New head coach Andoni Iraola has said as much, stating during a press conference in Chicago on Tuesday "we definitely need to sign a winger". He could hardly be more clear. However, who that new wide attacker will be remains a mystery.
The Reds' two primary targets throughout the summer have been Yan Diomandé and Bradley Barcola. However, those two deals are intertwined. Real Madrid have now entered the race to sign the Côte d'Ivoire international from RB Leipzig and, if they manage to do so, ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, the the Ligue 1 champions will be unwilling to sell Barcola. This is the worst possible outcome for Liverpool, who would then have to move onto other targets, so has one been identified?
Well, according to a report by German outlet Fussballdaten, Liverpool are one of many top European clubs interested in signing Oskar Pietuszewski from Porto. They add that the Portuguese champions do not intend "to let him leave easily" and will not accept any offers below his release clause of €60 million, around £51 million. The winger is only interested in joining a club "where he can play regularly" and considering Liverpool's lack of wide attacking options, they could certainly offer that at the moment. So, should the Reds push the boat out and sign him?
Who is Oskar Pietuszewski?
Pietuszewski, who is only 18 years old, has enjoyed an astronomical rise in a very short space of time. His senior debut came less than two years ago, breaking through at home town club Jagiellonia Białystok. In 54 appearances for the Polish side, he scored just four goals and registered three assists, but helped Jaga reach the UEFA Conference League quarter-finals the season before last.
This convinced FC Porto to pay €10 million to sign Pietuszewski as recently as January, where his star has risen even higher. He racked up three goals and four assists in just 820 minutes of Primeira Liga action, netting in three successive games in March, including scoring this memorable strike against Benfica in O Clássico at the Estádio da Luz during a key top of the table clash.
Oskar Pietuszewski 🪄#SLBFCP pic.twitter.com/UiDOjQ1HVR
— FC Porto (@FCPorto) March 8, 2026
Speaking to TVP Sport earlier this summer, Euro 2016 winner Ricardo Quaresma labelled him a "huge talent", enamoured with his style of play, and would know what a good winger looks like. Pietuszewski's performances in Portugal caught the eye of Poland national team manager Jan Urban. The teenager came off the bench during both of the Eagles' World Cup play-offs in March, having never been capped before. He then started for the first time against Ukraine in Wrocław in a friendly in early June. Thus, Pietuszewski is clearly a huge talent, but is he worth paying €60 million for?
How would Oskar Pietuszewski fit in at Liverpool?
Pietuszewski is a classic right-footed left winger. He is renowned for his elite dribbling and blistering pace and, in short, has all the attributes to become an elite-level attacking difference maker. It may only be a small sample size, but he ranked fifth in the Primeira Liga last season for successful dribbles per 90, racking up 2.97, while creating 0.22 big chances per 90 and 1.1 key passes per 90.
Thos numbers are all pretty impressive which underlines, if he can add serious end product to his game, Pietuszewski could become a player every elite-level club would like to sign. Is he though ready to be starting week in week out for Liverpool? Well, that is tough to say. He's already made the jump from the Ekstraklasa to Liga Portugal, but moving to England would be an entirely different level.
Whatever Liverpool do is a risk. Pay €60 million, and he may prove to be out of his depth. Wait and see, then there's a chance that someone else, probably Chelsea let's be honest, will buy Pietuszewski and, if he turns out to be electrifying, the Reds are left to look stupid. As numerous other winger targets fall by the wayside, who knows, the staff at the megastores who do shirt printings on Merseyside may have to learn how to correctly spell Pietuszewski by 1 September.
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