6 days ago
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Liverpool has broken its transfer record this summer, but the name on everybody's lips in preseason has been Rio Ngumoha.
There's precious little more exciting in soccer than the moment of realization that you may have a superstar on your hands, a sensation that has been spreading around Anfield.
There have been some comparisons to Raheem Sterling and his rapid rise through the ranks. But apart from anything else, Liverpool is in a far better state now than it was when he emerged — it will therefore be up to Arne Slot to manage Ngumoha's talents appropriately, making sure there is sufficient game time on offer if the teenager remains at Anfield for the season ahead as expected.
Because there seems little doubt that he is ready to make an impact at Premier League level. It's a vindication of Liverpool's youth transfer policy, made all the sweeter by the fact that Chelsea was left livid at losing such a special talent.
With the departure of Luis Diaz, there is only Cody Gakpo standing directly in the way of Ngumoha on the left wing as things stand. New signings Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike can both play there, but it's not difficult to imagine that there will be situations where Slot favors a more orthodox winger.
And the head coach has reiterated that he views Ngumoha as a legitimate option. Speaking in a press conference ahead of the Community Shield, he questioned exactly what it means to be a senior option in attack.
"I don’t know what senior players exactly means, does that mean you play for your country or you’re a certain age? Because a player like Rio showed in the last few games he played for us that, at senior level, he can make an impact as well," Slot told assembled journalists.
He did admit that Liverpool is always looking at opportunities in the transfer market as well. Alexander Isak would represent another world-class attacker at least indirectly standing in the way of Ngumoha's minutes, while there have also been links to out-and-out wingers like Bradley Barcola and Rodrygo.
But as well as name-checking Ngumoha, Slot rattled off the names of Gakpo, Ekitike, Wirtz, Mohamed Salah, Federico Chiesa and even Jeremie Frimpong, despite the latter primarily featuring as a full-back. He clearly feels that with the teenager factored into the equation, Liverpool has a reasonable array of options even without further transfer business.
Slot also went into some more detail about the plan for Ngumoha, and how Liverpool can help him to manage the increased hype. He pointed to the role of senior teammates.
"That is sometimes difficult," Slot conceded, when asked about dealing with the pressure. "You never know how an individual handles that situation, but it was a year ago when Trey Nyoni scored a goal against Sevilla when he was also maybe 17, very young.
"They have an incredible chance to work and be every day around players like Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah and all these others to see what they do, to be ready to perform every three days. And that is a step these players definitely have to make, which is completely normal if you’re 16 or 17.
"It’s already nice that they can play once a week at a good level, and we just try to develop them in the best way we can. But we also have to take care of them because new players that come in that are 23, 24, 22, already experienced that the intensity levels are quite high, either during the games or in training sessions, let alone for players that are 16 and coming through the academy."
As ever in youth development, it is a tightrope between exposing players to an elite environment and exposing them to enough game time. If a player is not quite ready to make the grade, a loan tends to be the better choice.
But Slot is planning with Ngumoha on board. He deems him ready to make his mark — and whatever else may happen in the transfer market, that is an exciting prospect.
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