Rio Ngumoha wowed the Premier League on Sunday with his short cameo against Nottingham Forest, changing the trajectory of the game with his direct style.
In August, after the 17-year-old scored the winner against Newcastle United in the 100th minute, many predicted that he would be heavily involved in Liverpool’s season.
With Cody Gakpo the only senior left winger ahead of him in the pecking order, it seems likely that Ngumoha would be trusted to deputise whenever his Dutch teammate needed a rest. As it is, Arne Slot has overplayed Gakpo, with the 26-year-old already at 2,475 minutes this season.
Arguably, Slot is to blame for Gakpo’s poor form. It’s difficult to expect a player to consistently deliver goal contributions when they’re fatigued. Gakpo has looked like a shadow of the player who yielded 18 goals and 7 assists last season.
Liverpool and Slot need to put more faith in Ngumoha – both for the teenager’s development and for Gakpo to get some rest.
Rio Ngumoha changed the game.pic.twitter.com/OF7Q5bjtzu
— Savvy (@lfcsavvy) February 22, 2026
Rio Ferdinand hugely excited about Rio Ngumoha and three other Premier League rising stars
On the ‘Rio Ferdinand Presents‘ podcast, the Manchester United and Premier League legend waxed lyrical about the younger Rio.
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.
“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.”
Liverpool need to trust Ngumoha from the start of games. In my book, if a player is ready to be a super sub, he’s ready to feature more heavily from the start of games.