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At just 17, Rio Ngumoha has already made quite the name for himself at Liverpool.
Having swapped Chelsea for the Reds last year — and sparked a bitter feud between the two clubs in the process — the teenager has gone on to earmark himself as a potential star of the future at Anfield.
His performances during preseason were enough to get fans more than a little excited, and then his late, late winner at Newcastle had those same supporters convinced they have something special on their hands. Given some of the names adding their praise for the youngster recently, it’s no surprise.
Virgil van Dijk summed things up well when he gave his reaction following that goal at St James’ Park. "Sixteen years old. Incredible," the Liverpool captain said.
"I'm very happy for him. It should motivate him even more to keep working each and every day and stay humble.
"He is in a good environment to progress. He has to look after himself and he has to learn from all of us, playing for so many years at the highest level, and take it on board and progress. That is a good target for him.”
Since then, Mohamed Salah has been giving Ngumoha advice, and there can’t be many better examples for him to follow than the Egyptian, who has firmly written his name into the Liverpool history books as a certified club legend.
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Former Reds captain Jamie Redknapp has been blown away by what he’s seen of Ngumoha, having followed his progress closely for nearly a decade now.
“I’d watched him since he was seven or eight years of age, he’s got this God-given talent, pace, when he picks up the ball, I’ve never seen anyone with such fast feet,” Redknapp said last month.
And now, Ngumoha has been given the seal of approval from the greatest player of all time.
The teenager has been included in a new Adidas advert featuring Lionel Messi, in which the Barcelona and Argentina legend picks out a list of 10 of the world’s top young stars.
In the advert, Messi lays out a number of cards showing off some of the brightest young attacking talents in the world. Among them is Ngumoha, with the link to the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner enhancing the growing anticipation surrounding his future.
"The perfect 10. It starts with a shuffle, it relies on a few tricks, a sleight of hand, nothing is left to chance,” the advert says.
"Every card is considered, a true maestro knows how to pick them. It's about pairs that make players fold, the diamond play, a full spread of aces. The perfect 10, that's how you pick the future of the game."
If it wasn’t already clear, Liverpool has quite the talent on its hands in Ngumoha. If he’s good enough for Messi, then the Reds have every right to be excited.
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