According to Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool believe they’ve recently secured a ‘really special’ young talent who boasts ‘insane’ potential.
The Reds recently acquired Rio Ngumoha from Chelsea’s academy, having completed the Premier League’s rigorous registration process, with the Merseysiders’ efforts in convincing the 16-year-old about a clear pathway to the first team proving to be instrumental in landing his signature (Daily Mail).
In his Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside on Saturday morning, the Italian transfer reporter shared an insight into just how highly the teenager is viewed from inside Anfield.
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Romano wrote: “Rio Ngumoha is the sensational new talent at Liverpool. They signed him on a free transfer from Chelsea and the youngster is considered to be superb. The club are in love with him.
“They obviously had been scouting him for a long time, and they believe that Rio is not just a player who will be part of the academy and ‘okay, we’ll see how he does in the future.’ Liverpool think that the potential is really insane for this boy.
“Obviously they had to pay an important compensation fee, but at the same time, Liverpool believed that they got one of the best deals around. They were really impressed with his first training sessions at the club in the recent days, very happy with his attitude and happy with his quality. This boy is going to be really, really special.”
It can be foolhardy to make grandiose predictions about footballers when they haven’t even reached voting age, considering how unforgiving the highest levels of the sport can be and how differently some players develop in their late teenage/young adult years.
There are countless instances of up-and-coming prospects who are labelled the next big thing and prematurely compared to legends of the game, only for them to leave the hype unfulfilled and see their careers fizzle out to obscurity.
However, everything that we’ve heard about Ngumoha up to this point suggests that his ceiling is higher than most among players of his age in the UK, and Romano’s praise about the 16-year-old’s attitude on the training pitch is an indicator of a mature head on a kid’s shoulders.
Liverpool have a rich tradition of players who emerge from the academy ranks to become established in the first team, from the likes of Robbie Fowler and Steven Gerrard in the 90s to Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones in modern times, and current gems such as Jayden Danns and Lewis Koumas have also been given their opportunity.
The prodigious young talent that we’ve acquired from Chelsea has no shortage of role models to try and emulate. Hopefully the right combination of his innate ability and application behind the scenes, in addition to astute coaching, will see him live up to what is already a hugely promising billing.