Liverpool declined to add a left-wing option to the squad last summer despite the departure of Luis Diaz. The Colombian wide man had a brilliant season for the Premier League champions but was permitt...
Liverpool declined to add a left-wing option to the squad last summer despite the departure of Luis Diaz.
The Colombian wide man had a brilliant season for the Premier League champions but was permitted to leave in a £65m deal to Bayern Munich.
Cody Gakpo was installed as first choice following Diaz’s sale - and Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes made no further additions on that side.
The reason given was that Rio Ngumoha would stand to benefit from not having another senior option blocking his path.
The 17-year-old was signed from Chelsea’s academy in summer 2024 and quickly worked his way into Arne Slot’s first-team thinking.
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At the beginning of this season he scored his first Premier League goal - becoming Liverpool’s youngest-ever goalscorer - and signed his first professional contract.
Ngumoha lacking first-team minutes
But the England youth’s career has stalled somewhat in recent weeks as he has found senior minutes increasingly hard to come by. Ngumoha last set foot on the pitch for the Reds back in November and has only played 42 Premier League minutes this season.
With Cody Gakpo injured it might have been expected that Ngumoha would have played more in recent weeks. But it’s not worked out like that - with Slot opting to go narrow in midfield and utilise Florian Wirtz out on the left instead.
Ngumoha has been left frustrated - only picking up minutes last week in an under-21 friendly. And Slot confirmed on Tuesday ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League game against Wolves on December 27 that the situation was unlikely to change.
In fact the Dutchman more or else admitted that Ngumoha is now FOURTH choice on Liverpool’s left. He namechecked Gakpo - who is expected to return to the fray this week - as well as Wirtz and even Federico Chiesa.
Slot: Ngumoha is fourth choice
“I think I said last time already that for his age, if I'm correct he's 17, I think he has, I'm not 100 per cent sure, the most minutes of all 17-year-olds in the Premier League, so that tells you how much playing time he gets, how special that already is for a 17-year-old,” Slot said.
“That also tells you something about his quality because it's not completely normal for a 17-year-old already to have so much playing time as he had. But it also tells you something about the availability in those areas.
“But for the weekend, that's not the biggest concern, that position, I would say. Hopefully Cody [Gakpo] is back, I'm not sure but hopefully, Federico [Chiesa] can play there, Florian [Wirtz] can play there.
“If he would be a player that would play in a different position, he would probably have even more chance to come in. But it's the same for all the other players.
“I think in the game against Tottenham I had four U21 players on the bench, so that increases the chance for him to come in as well. So, let's see.”
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Category: General Sports
