Rio Ferdinand thinks Rio Ngumoha has the potential to become an elite-level Premier League player at Liverpool.
The 17-year-old has been making headlines in the last few days following his cameo appearance in the 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
Jamie Carragher has urged Arne Slot to start the teenager in more games moving forward, saying he did more in 15 minutes than Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo managed all game versus Forest.
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rIO nGUMOHA PLAYING FOR lIVERPOOL VS nOTTINGHAM FOREST
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Elsewhere, former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge praised Ngumoha shortly after his outing on Sunday afternoon.
Rio Ferdinand backs Rio Ngumoha and JJ Gabriel to become elite Premier League players
Now, ex-Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has also been speaking about the Liverpool gem.
On the ‘Rio Ferdinand Presents‘ podcast, he backed Ngumoha to be one of four elite Premier League stars in the future.
He said: “You know the four, right now, if I was going to put money on and going these four, and you know what, it probably won’t even be these four that go and dominate the Premier League and do crazy things. If you were going to put your money on four kids right now, in the Premier League to do their thing, based on what you’re seeing now, you’ve got Rio at Liverpool, you’ve got Max Dowman, you’ve got JJ Gabriel at Man United, and Jesse Derry at Chelsea.
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“Jesse Derry, I know his dad, Shaun, he’s an ex-player, but I know the kid, wow, ridiculous, not only a talent, but an actual, like, as a kid who loves, loves the game. You know, certain kids, they just love football and live and breathe. All the time, he makes that and the balls that you see, like, still, one of those kids.”
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Along with Ferdinand, Sturridge, Carragher and more, Liverpool fans have heaped praise on Ngumoha after his showing against Forest.
His impressive cameo comes at a time when Salah is struggling, and Cody Gakpo continues to frustrate.
Yet, reports coming out of the weekend’s action say that Slot still does not think Ngumoha is ready for regular minutes.
The Liverpool manager has been criticised for his use of Academy players this season, Rio, of course, being one of them.
And if those claims are indeed correct, it does beg the question, what does the young winger have to do to actually prove he’s ready for more football?
His limited minutes would make sense if Salah and Gakpo were playing well, but they are not.
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