What Romano heard from inside Liverpool about Rio Ngumoha in 2024 turned out to be prophetic | OneFootball

Liverpool knew exactly what they were doing when they signed Rio Ngumoha from Chelsea’s academy last year!

The Reds went through a five-step registration process with the Premier League to complete a deal for the winger, who only turned 16 last August, and handed him a senior debut against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup at the start of 2025.

The youngster has gone to seize the opportunities handed to him by Arne Slot in pre-season this summer, scoring sensational goals against Yokohama F. Marinos and Athletic Bilbao and putting himself in contention for first-team inclusion for competitive fixtures in the new campaign.

Liverpool knew Ngumoha would be an ‘important signing’

In an update on his eponymous YouTube channel on Monday evening, Fabrizio Romano recalled what he was told from people at Liverpool about Ngumoha, with those words turning out to be quite prophetic.

The transfer insider said: “It was 13 months ago, July 2024, I was live on my channels and I told you, ‘Remember the name, Rio Ngumoha. This talented winger is leaving Chelsea to go to Liverpool.’

“That was out of nowhere. No-one reported one single word about Liverpool and Rio, but I told you to save his name because Liverpool believe they signed a top talent.

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

“13 months ago when I broke this story, the message I got from those at Liverpool was to remember this name, because the transfer window was quiet, the last one… someone at Liverpool told me, Rio Ngumoha is going to be an important signing; you will see.”

Romano added that Liverpool believe Ngumoha is a ‘special’ talent and are ‘preparing a new contract proposal’ for the 16-year-old, who’s showing that he ‘really trusts’ the Anfield hierarchy.

Ngumoha already looks ready for first-team football at Liverpool

The teenage forward was coveted by several other clubs before choosing to join Liverpool – as per The Athletic, Manchester United had pushed for his signature when he was at Chelsea, but conceded defeat once they knew that the Merseysiders had effectively won the race.

It’s common for teenage talents to be hyped up considerably when they get to the fringes of the first-team fold, although many don’t quite go on to live up to their stratospheric billing as the pressure of expectation seemingly impedes them.

From what we’ve seen of Ngumoha so far, there’s no fear of that happening to him. He already looks supremely confident up against experienced senior pros, even nutmegging 28-year-old Athletic Bilbao defender Andoni Gorosabel at Anfield on Monday.

There’ll inevitably be setbacks for the youngster at some point – every player’s career has it lows as well as its highs – but it’s becoming clearer with each appearance why Liverpool were prepared to bide their time with all the bureaucratic red tape in 2024 before the forward’s signing became official.

When people from inside the club told Romano last year that the ex-Chelsea starlet would be an ‘important signing’ and a ‘top talent’, they were bang on the money!