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Chelsea remains locked in a dispute with Liverpool over Rio Ngumoha — the teenage prodigy who needed only seconds to make his mark on his Premier League debut.
At just 16, Ngumoha became the fourth-youngest goalscorer in Premier League history, coolly sweeping home a stoppage-time winner to seal a 3-2 victory over Newcastle at a fiery St James’ Park.
Hype has surrounded the youngster for some time, and Monday’s performance will only add to the excitement over his potential. His move to Merseyside last year, which was viewed as one of the academy's biggest coups in years, was highly controversial and left Chelsea seething, a grievance that still lingers.
In November, Inside Sport reported that furious Chelsea officials believed they had lost 'a generational talent' in Ngumoha, with a tribunal called to determine the fee for his controversial move.
Nearly a year on from his switch, a ruling from the Premier League panel has yet to arrive. Chelsea, however, will feel that Ngumoha’s dazzling debut only strengthens their case for substantial compensation.
The transfer passed the Premier League’s five-step process, but that did little to calm tempers in west London.
At the time, Chelsea’s frustration was so great that Liverpool’s youth scouts were reportedly banned from attending academy fixtures.
Ngumoha, who was named player of the tournament when Chelsea’s U16s won the national championship in 2023, made the move to Anfield last September.
On Monday night, Arne Slot introduced him deep into stoppage time — and just four minutes later he swept in a Mohamed Salah cross, cleverly set up by a Dominik Szoboszlai dummy, to clinch a 3-2 win over Newcastle.
The 16-year-old, who turns 17 on Friday, follows in the footsteps of Harvey Elliott, whose switch from Fulham also went to tribunal, with Liverpool eventually ordered to pay around $5.7million.
Meanwhile, Slot described Ngumoha’s impact as “really promising” after the youngster’s display against Yokohoma F. Marinos in pre-season, where he capped his performance with a superb solo goal.
Slot told The Athletic at the time: "We’ve only played two games over here and we haven’t played against Premier League opponents yet, but I see him train, I see him play, and the impact he has when he trains and plays is really promising. Playing in the Premier League, playing every three days with the Champions League games in between, that’s something else.
"But he’s definitely a player who shows at this moment in time that if he keeps bringing these performances in, then tonight (against Marinos) definitely won’t be the last time he plays a few minutes for Liverpool. It’s all about consistency. He needs to show it every single day we’re on the pitch."
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