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John Barnes warned Rio Ngumoha to ignore the outside noise and focus on his continued development following his incredible summer at Liverpool.
The teenager was among the Reds’ most impressive players in pre-season and netted a famous winning goal in the trip to Newcastle United last month, becoming the youngest Liverpool player to score in the Premier League in the process.
The club opted against strengthening in the wide attacking areas this summer, such is the belief in Ngumoha’s ability, while Arne Slot chose Ngumoha over Federico Chiesa in this season’s Champions League squad.
With such noise surrounding the 17-year-old’s rapid rise to the top, it’s easy to lose sight of just how inexperienced Ngumoha remains. There is no shortage of examples of youth proteges who lost their way, and Barnes said it's crucial that Ngumoha does not get carried away by his impressive start to life as a senior Liverpool player.
“I’m very pleased because I know the house family he lives with,” the ex-Red exclusively told Liverpool.com at a recent PCO event in Liverpool city center. “I was actually shown a picture of me, Rio and his dad, when Rio was eight years old. Had I known then I would have signed him up as his agent.
“He's at the right club to look after him. He's a fantastic player, but they will keep his feet on the ground. He's had a fantastic start, not just pre-season, but scoring the winner against Newcastle.
“But we can't get carried away because this is all he's done so far, and he's not going to be in the team straight away. He'll be in and around the squad. So we have to let him grow slowly and encourage him.
“He'll listen to people at Liverpool,” Barnes added. “They won’t put pressure on him to do anything, which is probably why he has come on and done so well. We just tread softly with him.”
Barnes, who played over 400 times for Liverpool during his decade-long spell on Merseyside, knows exactly what it takes to succeed as a flying winger at Anfield, but was wary of discussing just how good he feels Ngumoha could be.
“He can be very good, but at this moment in time, he's good enough for where he is. So why am I going to say he's going to be the best in the world when, all of a sudden, he may not even play for Liverpool?
“Everybody has potential, realizing that that potential is something else. So potentially, he can be a fantastic player and play regularly for Liverpool, but why are we talking about how good he can't be rather than talk about how he's at this moment in time, because you're not going to be the best player in the next two, three, four years, maybe.”
Barnes was speaking to Liverpool.com in association with Premier League player, PICO and Rezzil.
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