Liverpool coach makes HUGE Rio Ngumoha prediction

Liverpool’s academy has nurtured a number of great young talents through to the first team in recent years, and now it looks like there may be another ready to break through.

The Reds approach to developing youth players has changed slightly in recent years, with more emphasis now being placed on signing exciting young talents before they have broken through into other teams’ senior squads.

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This has been the case with players such as Harvey Elliott, who was signed by Fulham aged 16, although Elliott had made his senior debut for the Cottagers.

Elliott has now made 120 appearances for Liverpool and is the perfect example of how this model is supposed to work.

This summer the Reds continued their strategy with the signings of Alvin Ayman and Rio Ngumoha, but it is the latter that has been making headlines.

Ngumoha’s development at Liverpool

Ngumoha was once again impressive in the Liverpool U18s’ most recent U18 Premier League match against Stoke City.

The 16-year-old provided the assist for Kareem Ahmed’s opener in the 48th minute in a game that the young Reds went on to win 2-0.

The assist was Ngumoha’s third of the season from the eight appearances that he has made.

Speaking to the club’s website about Ngumoha’s ability following the victory, U18s manager Marc Bridge-Wilkinson said: “He enjoyed himself out there. We know the type of player that Rio is and we also know that he missed a lot of time away from the pitch and missed a lot of pre-season, so he is playing catch-up.

The victory was only the U18s second of the season in the competition, and supporters will be hoping for more impressive form from Ngumoha to turn the team’s fortunes around.

How high is Ngumoha’s ceiling?

When Liverpool signed the youngster from Chelsea in the summer, there was a great deal of fanfare surrounding the perceived transfer coup.

The forward was widely regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in the Premier League and he only tuned 16 at the end of August.

Ngumoha is definitely a signing for the future at Anfield, but he has already shown glimpses of talent that could see him in the first team picture sooner rather than later.

The fee that the Reds will have to pay for their new young star hasn’t yet been decided, and will be decided by tribunal, but supporters will hope that whatever the price ends up being, it will look like a bargain when Ngumoha is dazzling for the first team in a few seasons time.

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