The acceleration of Rio Ngumoha‘s breakthrough at Liverpool has been one few outside of the club could have predicted, but those on the inside will have held a belief it was at least possible.
Liverpool’s pursuit of a 15-year-old Ngumoha sparked fury from those at his former club Chelsea, but a year on, their efforts to convince him over the switch have been vindicated.
So too has the player’s own decision to turn down the lucrative instability of life at Stamford Bridge and opt for a move 250 miles away to the northwest.
Having joined Chelsea at pre-academy level before signing as part of their under-8s in 2016, Ngumoha’s childhood was spent around their Cobham training ground.
The offer of a scholarship would have therefore been tempting, but Liverpool were able to convince the attacker they could provide a clearer pathway to first-team football if he opted to spend his formative years on Merseyside.
Credit: @rio_ngumoha (IG)
Within days of his move officially going through at the start of September last year, that showed, as Ngumoha worked alongside the likes of Federico Chiesa, Curtis Jones, Joe Gomez and Darwin Nunez at the AXA Training Centre.
Along with appearances for the U18s, U19s and later the U21s, the youngster became a regular in first-team training, and by December had made the matchday squad for the first time.
A first start came in January, while he became more and more integrated within the senior setup, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson making efforts to ensure he was settled in his surroundings.
He was of course far from the finished product, and would often hold onto the ball far too long as he left teammates frustrated in academy games.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Monday, August 4, 2025: Liverpool's Rio Ngumoha during a pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and Athletic Bilbao at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
But there was an assurance that he could make a further step up in pre-season – and Arne Slot and his staff were rewarded with a series of stellar displays in Liverpool’s summer friendlies.
Such was the impact made on Slot in the warmup period that any plans to replace Luis Diaz in the transfer market were shelved, with This Is Anfield learning as early as mid-July that there had been no consideration over a move for Real Madrid winger Rodrygo.
Instead the focus has remained on Ngumoha, and two games into the new Premier League campaign that was rewarded.
The scenes as a boy wearing the No. 73, who was not even an option for players of Fantasy Premier League at the start of the campaign, wheeled away having scored an 100th-minute winner at St James’ Park summed it up.
This is a prodigious talent who is already capable of stepping up to the first-team fold at Liverpool; he will rightly be treated with caution, but there is a belief that he can comfortably provide cover for Cody Gakpo on the left.
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND - Monday, August 25, 2025: Liverpool's debut goalscorer Rio Ngumoha and head coach Arne Slot celebrating during the FA Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Liverpool FC at St James' Park. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Meanwhile, Chelsea continue to recycle their squad summer upon summer, with the sole academy graduate to start their 5-1 win over West Ham on Friday night – Trevoh Chalobah – having initially only found his way into Enzo Maresca’s plans out of necessity.
Ngumoha’s former club have already signed five new forwards this transfer window alone, with further interest in Xavi Simons, Fermin Lopez and Alejandro Garnacho, while selling Noni Madueke after two-and-a-half seasons.
There may be higher salaries and longer contracts on offer at Chelsea, but such is their turnover of not only players but also managers that any sensible appraisal would determine theirs is not the ideal environment for high-potential youth.
Under a long-established structure at Liverpool’s academy, Ngumoha signed a scholarship last summer that earns him just £1,200 per month.
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN - Wednesday, July 30, 2025: Liverpool's Rio Ngumoha celebrates with team-mate Trey Nyoni (R) after scoring his side's third goal during the Meiji Yasuda J.League World Challenge 2025 match between Yokohama F. Marinos and Liverpool FC at the International Stadium Yokohama. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
That will increase when he signs his first professional contract upon turning 17 on Friday, and he has already warranted that pay rise.
The same applied to Trey Nyoni when the midfielder put pen to paper on his pro terms in October of last year, and again when he was rewarded with an improved, extended deal in June.
Nyoni and Ngumoha are shining lights in Liverpool’s new approach to academy recruitment, with post-Brexit restrictions on signing players under the age of 18 from abroad ensuring a sharper focus in bringing in the best talents from other British clubs.
But while there are always some – such as Ben Doak, who joined Bournemouth for a £24.4 million profit this summer after three years at the club – who will be sold on, the feeling around Ngumoha is different.
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND - Monday, August 25, 2025: Liverpool's match-winning goal-scorer Rio Ngumoha (L) celebrates with team-mate Harvey Elliott at the final whistle during the FA Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Liverpool FC at St James' Park. Liverpool won 3-2. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
His arrival after the appointment of Slot as head coach, and with Michael Edwards and Julian Ward back in roles overseeing the club’s direction, is symbolic if not even more revealing.
With Liverpool’s outlook now clearly aligned, from boardroom to dugout and beyond, the aggressive push to sign Ngumoha from Chelsea showed that the finger is firmly on the pulse.
That he is now already considered a first-team player will only complicated tense discussions between Liverpool and Chelsea when it comes to the scale of compensation required.
The matter will almost certainly be resolved by an independent tribunal, and though the champions should insist his subsequent achievements cannot be factored into any valuation, it will certainly be difficult to remove that bias.
But regardless of the millions they are inevitably required to pay Chelsea – likely in the region of the £4.3 million compensation the Reds were ordered to pay Fulham for Harvey Elliott – Liverpool can consider it money well spent.
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND - Monday, August 25, 2025: Liverpool's match-winning goal-scorer Rio Ngumoha celebrates with team-mate Hugo Ekitike (R) after the FA Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Liverpool FC at St James' Park. Liverpool won 3-2. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Such was the anger in west London that their rivals had poached their best young talent before he could even sign a scholarship that Chelsea blocked Liverpool scouts from attending fixtures at their academy.
That frustration should however be directed internally, as Ngumoha rightly acknowledged that there was simply no direct path to the first team for him at Chelsea.
Instead the more likely direction would have been to sister-club Strasbourg, who have loaned three Chelsea players including attacking midfielder Kendry Paez this summer alone.
As he now aims to build on that unbelievable moment in Newcastle with more to come this season, the teenager can be vindicated in his choice to leave London for Liverpool.