Rio Ngumoha is set to sign his first professional contract with Liverpool following his 17th birthday next month
Liverpool winger Rio Ngumoha.(Image: Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Rio Ngumoha will sign his first professional contract with Liverpool following his 17th birthday next month. The Reds pulled off something of a transfer coup last summer when signing the highly-rated teenager from Chelsea.
Chelsea were privately furious at losing the starlet to Liverpool. The England youth international was considered one of the brightest talents in their academy.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he did not have to wait long to make an impact on Merseyside and be fast-tracked. Training with Arne Slot’s first team multiple times throughout the season, Ngumoha was included in a matchday squad for the first time when he was an unused substitute for the Reds’ League Cup quarter-final win over Southampton in December.
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A senior debut followed against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup the following month, as he started at Anfield and completed 72 minutes, before he was in the matchday squad again for Liverpool’s shock loss to Plymouth Argyle in the next round.
Alongside his first-team opportunities, Ngumoha featured regularly for the Reds’ Under-21s, and Under-18s and Under-19s sides throughout the season at academy level.
With Liverpool’s pre-season campaign set to get underway against Preston North End on Sunday (July 13), he will no doubt be hoping for further opportunities to catch Slot’s eye.
A new contract is also in the pipeline for Ngumoha, but that was always going to be the case after signing for the Reds when still only 15 years old.
The teenager joined Liverpool on scholarship terms last summer, due to restrictions on youth signings.
But with the winger set to turn 17 at the end of August, he will become eligible to sign his first professional contract as the Reds move to officially tie down his future.
While Ngumoha will hope senior opportunities continue for him at Liverpool this season, he is set to work under new managers at academy level following the departures of long-serving Under-21s and Under-21s head coaches Barry Lewtas and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson.
Former Wales manager Rob Page was confirmed as the Reds new Under-21s head coach last month.