EXCLUSIVE: Why Liverpool are DELETING Rio Ngumoha footage

Few players have arrived at Liverpool with the same hype as Rio Ngumoha in recent years.

The exciting young winger was regarded as one of the best young talents coming through the ranks at Chelsea. Last season he even trained with the Blues' first team at just 15 years old.

But he failed to agree a new deal in Cobham and that allowed Liverpool to pull off a major coup beating the likes of Manchester City to Ngumoha's signature.

It was a move that has caused controversy at Chelsea, with the Blues furious about having lost their biggest talent to one of their main rivals.

That alone caused excitement among Liverpool fans before Ngumoha had even stepped foot through the doors at the AXA training centre.

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Ngumoha's impressive start to life at Liverpool

The youngster had to wait a few weeks before his move was ultimately cleared and processed which meant the first glimpses Liverpool fans saw of him was training alongside Federico Chiesa for the club's U21 team during the September international break.

Ngumoha didn't disappoint during that session, showcasing his scintillating dribbling skills and upstaging Liverpool's brand new Italian signing.

He made his debut for the club's U18 side against Blackburn Rovers and immediately caught the eye with a step-over during a brief 20-minute outing. Another exhilarating cameo against AC Milan in the UEFA Youth League was followed by his first start against Leeds United for the U18 side.

Ngumoha completed 100% of his dribbles (3/3) in that game and competed in 19 offensive duels, showcasing his fervent energy. He also provided a sublime assist to get his first goal contribution in a Liverpool shirt.

But perhaps it wasn't until Liverpool U18's next game that Ngumoha really started to make a name for himself. In that match he completed eight out of 12 dribbles and made a whopping 10 touches in the opposition's penalty area, proving a constant threat.

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So impressive were Ngumoha's performances that by the October international break he had been called up to Arne Slot's first team squad for training sessions.

Ever since then, he has been regularly involved in first team trainings rather than U21 sessions, including in the lead up to the Reds' game against Southampton this weekend.

Slot and his coaching staff have been mesmerised by his performances and are very excited by his talent.

Anfield Watch understands, Ngumoha regularly terrorises first team players in training and the club has had to delete and edit out footage of his performances from the Inside Training video series in a bid to contain the hype surrounding the 16-year-old.

It's only a matter of time until the youngster will be given an opportunity at first team level. However, for now the Reds are carefully managing expectations.

Ngumoha is still yet to make his debut for the club's U21 team and that will be the next step in his development before he gets his chance to play at senior level.

Rio Ngumoha's impressive numbers for Liverpool

In a small sample size, Ngumoha's stats are still mouthwatering nonetheless. In the U18 Premier League no one has averaged more dribbles per 90 than the Liverpool youngster (13.73) as per Wyscout.

The fact that he has a dribble completion rate of 72.2%, which ranks him among the ten most successful dribblers in the league is even more remarkable.

At the same time he also averages the second most progressive runs (8.39 per 90).

And has averaged 0.76 assists per 90 in the league so far, which also ranks him among the top three leaders in the metric.

He needs to improve when it comes to his finishing having hit just two of his last 14 shots on target for Liverpool in the league. But all of that will come with time.

His frightening dribbling statistics already put him in a league of his own, and it's very clear this is just the beginning of what could promise to be a special career ahead for the teenager.

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