Asked if Ngumoha could save Liverpool time and money in the transfer market, with somebody needing to fill the void that Salah will leave behind, ex-Reds striker Collymore - speaking in association with Best Betting Bonuses - told GOAL: “He can save them a lot of time and money, but I don't think it would be necessarily as Salah's replacement.
“I think that Liverpool have got to be very careful of pitching him like that because he's 17. Having said that, you look at the likes of Robbie Fowler, 17, 18, Michael Owen, 17, 18, [Steven] Gerrard, who was very young, [Jamie] Carragher, made his debut in a team that I played in. So Liverpool have history and tradition of blooding young players and them going on to become the next big thing from that age.
“Where it's slightly different now than it was 20, 30 years ago, is of course social media and a million football accounts, I think you're almost swamping a young player. And young players like him will be on social media. I don't know whether he's visible or not, but he'll be on social media and he'll be aware of it.
“It's that which I think it makes it very difficult for a player of 17, the likes of Max Dowman at Arsenal. When he scored that goal the other week, it was decent, but the way it was portrayed, it was the greatest goal that had ever been and he'd given Arsenal the title. Once you're starting to deal with those narratives as a 17-year-old, rather than ‘wonderkid breaks on the scene’, it heaps constant, day-in, day-out, 24-7 pressure on young shoulders. And I think Liverpool will be very aware of that.
“I think Liverpool will look to replace Salah with a functioning right forward, right of a three, while simultaneously trying to find in pre-season where is Ngumoha’s best position. Is it to the right? Is it to the left? Is it down the middle? And they'll give him games and they'll look at him in training and they'll settle on a position for him. But I think that they will detach the Salah from the Ngumoha thing because I just think it would be too much pressure.”