(Video) What Rio Ngumoha did to opponent in 19th minute v Athletic Bilbao was just obscene | OneFootball

Rio Ngumoha is outrageously good at the sport of football for a kid of 16 years of age.

The former Chelsea academy starlet has been a standout player for Liverpool in pre-season, scoring his first senior goal for the Reds (albeit an ‘unofficial’ one) in the win over Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan last week.

He also found the net in the first of Monday’s two fixtures against Athletic Bilbao at Anfield, embarking on a solo run nearly half the length of the pitch before firing past Alex Padilla inside the opening 90 seconds, and he also claimed the assist for Darwin Nunez’s goal just three minutes later.

Ngumoha makes a mockery of Athletic Bilbao defender

Ngumoha put on a show during his 67 minutes on the pitch this evening, and not just with those two early contributions.

In the 19th minute of the teatime fixture, he brilliantly controlled a lofted pass out to him on the left flank and appeared to be hemmed into the corner by Andoni Gorosabel.

Instead, the 16-year-old casually nutmegged the Athletic Bilbao right-back and then skipped past another opponent on the edge of the penalty area. The ball ultimately got away from him after a heavy touch, but the audacity of what came beforehand was obscene.

Image via @nk_u3he on X

Ngumoha is brimming with confidence at senior level!

Sky Sports reporters Patrick Rowe and Vinny O’Connor both proclaimed during the first half of this evening’s match that Ngumoha is a genuine contender for regular first-team action, and such suggestions are not hyperbole.

His development will continue to be handled carefully throughout the upcoming season, and it seems unlikely that he’d be thrown in at the deep end in the most high-stakes fixtures.

However, from what we’ve seen of the forward in recent matches, he’s not one bit overawed by playing against far more experienced footballers, and it’s not stretching it to claim that he could make his Premier League debut before the end of this month.

To have the confidence to nutmeg a seasoned 28-year-old opponent speaks volumes for Ngumoha’s mentality and talent, and we’re sure that Gorosabel will merely be one member of a lone line of players to be made to look foolish by Liverpool’s outrageously gifted number 73!

You can view Ngumoha’s nutmeg on Gorosabel below (from 1:11), via @nk_u3he on X: