Liverpool's Plan for Rio Ngumoha's Future Role
Liverpool’s belief in Rio Ngumoha is hardening into a plan.
Behind the scenes at Anfield, the teenager is being lined up for a far bigger role under Arne Slot next season, even as Fenway Sports Group weigh up another move in the winger market.
From Chelsea jewel to Liverpool project
Ngumoha’s story is already one of the most contentious academy moves in recent Premier League memory. Raised in the Chelsea system and widely viewed inside Cobham as a future first-teamer, he walked away in September 2024 and crossed the divide to Liverpool.
Chelsea did not take it lightly. BBC Sport reported that the London club saw him as “the best player in his age group” and had put “several significant future contract offers” on the table to keep him. He rejected them all.
A tribunal eventually set the price of that decision. In February 2026, it ruled that Liverpool must pay at least £2.8 million to Chelsea, with the Blues also entitled to 20% of any profit if the Reds sell him. Liverpool have since tied Ngumoha down to a professional deal, betting that the figure will look cheap in a few years.
Slot’s slow burn
For now, the winger’s impact has been limited to flashes. Ngumoha has been used sparingly by Slot this season, with just two Premier League starts and 512 minutes in all competitions. It has left Liverpool fans impatient, their calls for more game time growing louder as the campaign has gone on.
Inside the club, the mood is very different. According to Football Insider, Liverpool have no intention of offloading Ngumoha in the 2026 summer window and will block any loan move as well. The message is clear: he stays, and he plays.
The report states that Liverpool have “earmarked” him for a bigger role and believe he “will kick on and become a key figure next season” under Slot. That belief has already shaped their recruitment. The Reds are said to have turned down the chance to sign a left-winger last summer to clear a pathway for Ngumoha, even as Cody Gakpo’s form dipped across the 2025/26 campaign.
If Slot does hand him that responsibility and Ngumoha delivers, the teenager could save FSG a significant outlay. A homegrown solution on the left would remove the need for another major signing in that area at a time when other parts of the squad demand investment.
Gordon, Gakpo and the transfer trigger
There is a caveat. Liverpool’s faith in Ngumoha does not mean they will ignore the market completely.
The plan shifts if Gakpo goes.
Transfer insider Graeme Bailey has reported that Liverpool are keen on a summer 2026 move for Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon, a player who fits the high-intensity, high-output profile Slot demands from his wide forwards.
Interest in Gakpo is already building. Sources have indicated that Napoli, AC Milan, RB Leipzig and Atletico Madrid are all monitoring the Dutchman. Should one of those clubs push hard enough and Gakpo leave, Liverpool intend to bring in a replacement winger.
That would not necessarily block Ngumoha, but it would raise the competition level around him. The teenager’s elevation is planned; it is not guaranteed.
Life after Salah and the right-wing rebuild
On the opposite flank, change is unavoidable. With Mohamed Salah leaving at the end of the season, Liverpool’s right side is being ripped up and redrawn.
RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande is high on the list. Liverpool are very keen on the winger, and the expectation is that he would operate primarily from the right, filling the void Salah leaves behind rather than encroaching on Ngumoha’s territory on the left.
The shape of Liverpool’s attack could look very different in a few months: a new right-winger, a potential marquee addition like Gordon if Gakpo departs, and a teenager from Chelsea’s academy stepping into the spotlight at Anfield.
A summer of exits and a changing core
The upheaval will not stop there. A separate report has outlined four more Liverpool players who could depart at the end of the season, alongside Salah and long-serving left-back Andy Robertson.
Bailey has also revealed that Liverpool are preparing to raid Newcastle for one of their star players in response to the long-term injury suffered by Hugo Ekitike, adding another layer to what is shaping up as a busy, aggressive window.
Through all of that noise, one decision cuts through: Liverpool do not want Rio Ngumoha to leave, not even on loan. They want him in their squad, on their pitches, under Slot’s eye.
Next season will show whether that quiet conviction turns into a breakout – or whether the Premier League’s most talked-about academy defector becomes the face of Liverpool’s next attacking era.
