Liverpool spent over £440m to improve their squad last summer, but it’s taken a 17-year-old academy graduate to spark life into their dwindling season. But is Liverpool’s teenage star now the key to a famous Anfield Champions League comeback against Paris Saint-Germain?
With Arne Slot’s Anfield future potentially resting on whether Liverpool can overcome a two-goal first-leg deficit against the European Champions, Ngumoha’s goal and display against Fulham has given the Dutch head coach a selection dilemma.
Ngumoha, who became Liverpool’s youngest Premier League goalscorer at Anfield, was at the heart of a performance that has restored hope in their bid to secure Champions League for next season. Liverpool tightened their grip on fifth place, which will be enough to confirm a spot in next season’s competition.
However, despite a stellar showing in what was just his second start in the Premier League, Jamie Redknapp believes that Ngumoha may be a better option off the bench against PSG.
Rio Ngumoha described his goal for Liverpool as special whilst Andy Robertson said he’s going to try to enjoy every moment with the Liverpool fans before the end of the season
“If Slot did start him, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Redknapp said.
“I just think right now, when I’m trying to pick Liverpool’s best team for a huge game. I like the midfield he ended up with against Fulham, with [Alexis] Mac Allister, [Ryan] Gravenberch and [Dominik] Szoboszlai.
“I think that’s a midfield that’s got a bit of everything. That was the midfield that pretty much won the league last year for Liverpool.
“If [Hugo] Ekitike starts at No 9, then you might need [Florian] Wirtz on the left-hand side, and then obviously [Mohamed] Salah, who did really well on that right side.
“That feels like it has a nice shape to it. Obviously reminiscent of last year. You’ve got [Alexander] Isak to come off the bench if you need him, and then you’ve got Rio to come off the bench and give you a bit of X factor.
“If you can stay in the game, you’ve not got to win the game in the first 20 minutes, but you can certainly lose it. It might be one where you get those two players on towards the end. That might just be able to nick you a goal, lift the crowd.
“I guarantee he will get some really valuable minutes in that game. But delighted for him, he couldn’t have done any more, certainly, to push himself for a start. So if he did, I wouldn’t be surprised either.”
Redknapp also offered some insight into Ngumoha’s rise to breaking into the Liverpool first team after leaving Chelsea. Ngumoha was at Chelsea at the same time as Redknapp’s son, Beau Redknapp, before joining the Merseyside club in 2024.
“The potential was so obvious,” Redknapp revealed
“Everybody could see it. He just had sort of a natural X factor. He was at Chelsea at the same time as my youngest son, and they used to train together in the same group.
“It was quite staggering to see. His brother, who played a big part in his career, certainly his development. He used to do a lot of one-on-one coaching with him, and he came over to my house a few times, and I just watched how he worked with Rio.
“I’ve never seen a kid with such fast feet, but it was repetition after repetition. We speak so much now about a lot of these, a lot of these players don’t just perhaps get enough training at their own clubs. They do it with one-on-one coaches, and there’s probably nobody better, or nobody knows him better than his older brother.
“So they worked extremely well together. For anyone who doesn’t know his sort of journey. He was one of the very highly regarded players at Chelsea. They loved him. Wanted to keep him. Liverpool came in. He left at 16 years of age to go up there, and it must have been really hard for him. It probably took a little while to settle. His first year in the academy didn’t go perhaps, to help like to plan.
“This year, he sort of forced his way in with the first team squad. And now you can see it, the goal against Newcastle, the goal against Fulham, he’s thriving.
“He’s enjoying it, and it is a great environment. It’s a tough environment. I did it myself as a 17-year-old when I signed for Liverpool, and I’m thankful for every day that I did it.
“He’s doing extremely well. He’s got to keep his head on his shoulders and keep working hard. He’s got great experienced players like Andy Robertson around him. So I’m delighted. He’s a really good young man, and it’s amazing to see him. I’ve known him since he was seven.”
