(Video) Rio Ngumoha will have Liverpool fans swooning after show-stopping goal against Yokohama | OneFootball

Liverpool Football Club knew exactly what they were doing when they signed Rio Ngumoha last year!

The Reds had to go through a five-step registration process with the Premier League in order to secure his transfer from Chelsea, given that he’s still a minor (he doesn’t turn 17 until next month), but with each performance, it’s becoming clear why the Merseysiders went to such an effort to land him.

The teenage forward has been given plenty of first-team exposure by Arne Slot during pre-season, and he made a devastating impact in the 3-1 victory over Yokohama F. Marinos today.

Ngumoha scores sensational goal in Yokohama

Ngumoha provided the standout moment of the match in the 87th minute with the goal which put the seal on a hard-earned Liverpool win.

Taking possession just inside Yokohama’s half of the pitch, he surged to the edge of the penalty area before jinking past one futile defensive challenge and dispatching the ball emphatically beyond opposition goalkeeper Park Il-Kyu.

(Photo by Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images)

Ngumoha already looks first-team ready at Liverpool

We’re always wary of not trying to heap excessive praise on young players too soon, but Ngumoha makes that rather difficult, given his outrageous talents!

He already looked to the manor born in a first-team setting in recent games, and The Athletic even hinted that he could step up to provide genuine competition for Cody Gakpo on the left flank throughout the 2025/26 season, now that Luis Diaz has joined Bayern Munich.

After witnessing the 16-year-old’s goal in Yokohama today, Sky Sports reporter Peter Smith exclaimed, “This boy… what a talent!”. Meanwhile, Paul Gorst handed him 9/10 in his post-match player ratings for the Liverpool Echo, writing that he ‘tormented’ the Japanese side and that his 87th-minute finish ‘showcased exactly why there is so much excitement around him’.

Ngumoha has still only played one competitive senior match in his fledgling career (our FA Cup win over Accrington Stanley in January), but on the basis of his performances in pre-season, you can be sure that we’ll see plenty more of him in the Reds’ first team throughout 2025/26.

Who knows just how high a ceiling this stupendously talented footballer has!

You can view Ngumoha’s goal in Yokohama below, taken from LFCTV’s match coverage and shared via @MargretheS63320 on X: