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In the hours after the then 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha scored a 100th-minute winner for Liverpool away at Newcastle last month, his older brother's phone was pinging away with text messages, one of which read: ‘I told you – he will win the Ballon d’Or!’
It was a running joke between the older sibling, James, and one of the Liverpool sensation’s first coaches at Chelsea, Saul Isaksson-Hurst. Ever since the coach set eyes on this kid, he knew he was destined for the top.
And the top is where he already is – making every matchday squad for the Premier League champions, trusted off the bench both domestically and in the Champions League… and now in line to play in the Carabao Cup against Southampton at Anfield on Tuesday.
But the tight-knit Ngumoha family, his coaches and, most importantly, the player himself, would all disagree with the sentiment that he is at the top or has ‘made it’. This is just the tip of the iceberg and, though it is right to call him a superstar in the making, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
‘He is a phenomenal talent,’ says Isaksson-Hurst, who first coached Ngumoha aged eight and now runs My Personal Football Coach. ‘He stood out at a very early age. Bearing in mind we are at one of the best academies in world football, he was an outlier.
‘You knew even at eight years old he had a bright, bright future ahead of him. Listen, there are no guarantees that a player can go to the top. But at the big clubs you see the outliers even at an early age.
Rio Ngumoha announced himself to a worldwide audience with his 100th-minute winner against Newcastle in August
Then 16, he became the youngest goalscorer in Liverpool's history - and scouts are adamant that there is a lot more to come
‘I used to joke to his brother, "This guy is golden, he’s going to win the Ballon d’Or”. I don’t take it lightly, I coached one of the best talents in football. He has the ability to go all the way. Rio is just a top, top, top talent with a great mentality and unbelievable ability.’
Ngumoha was poached from Chelsea in August 2024, and the fee is still to be decided by a compensation tribunal. The move passed the Premier League’s five-step regulations designed to prevent ‘tapping up’ players but the west London club were still furious, and even banned Liverpool scouts from youth games at their Cobham HQ at one point last season as a result.
Chelsea believe they lost a ‘generational talent’ and sources reckon Ngumoha’s first-team breakthrough has given the Stamford Bridge top brass confidence they can secure a sizeable compensation fee - though it will still be peanuts compared to what he is actually worth.
Chelsea only had themselves to blame. The east London boy, from Newham, was simply sold a better pathway by Liverpool. Five months before his move, a team of Liverpool kids had beaten Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final.
Daily Mail Sport has been sent pictures of Ngumoha sporting an Everton shirt as a boy but, fear not Liverpool fans, he is not a Toffee and would just wear various jerseys during his extra-curricular one-on-one sessions in evenings. He is still in touch with Chelsea team-mates and often rooms with Freddy Bernal, a young goalkeeper, when on England duty.
But the Ngumoha circle, which includes brother James, mother Liz and family friend Fergal Hale-Brown, all thought his chances of first-team football were better up north. Southern-based Liverpool scout Chris Wilkins was crucial to the deal, right from identifying Ngumoha and also convincing him to move.
When speaking to any of those close to Ngumoha, who goes by simply ‘Rio’ on the back of his shirt, the word back is always that he is uber-focused and does not want to do too much too soon in terms of brand or image. It is best to chip away at his craft quietly, they think.
It is different to the approach of many young talents – some who have broken through at Liverpool have been pushed by their entourages into the media spotlight. Maybe that is all to come for Ngumoha, but not yet.
Arne Slot has brought Ngumoha off the bench three times this season, trusting him over vastly more experienced and senior colleagues
Chelsea were furious that Ngumoha slipped through their grasp last year
Upon turning 17 a few weeks ago, Ngumoha was given a professional contract. Some insist that it is worth just £1,000 a week, based on Liverpool’s wage structure of not offering too much, too soon.
This figure, however, is extremely conservative to say the least. One agent, who looks after several youth players, tells us that with bonuses and add-ons, Ngumoha will be earning much, much more. Let’s just say he won’t struggle to afford driving lessons!
But from what we know about Ngumoha - having spent the last year watching him on cold afternoons at the academy and now sold-out stadiums in front of a worldwide audience - he is not bothered by the money.
‘A lot of Rio’s success is down to his brother, driving him and taking control of his programme,’ adds Isaksson-Hurst. ‘He was always doing bits outside of football, extra coaching too - it is James doing that, setting the tone with his mentality that you need to get to the top.
‘The standout moment for me - and wow there are so many because he is electric - but we went to France and played all the big youth teams. We got knocked out in the group stage but he got player of the tournament. That is unheard of, a player who hasn’t got to the final or won it.
‘If you know the game or you are a coach or a scout, you could see how far ahead he was of anyone else on the pitch. One of my targets that I talked with Rio and James about was the end product, to get the goals and assists. It was really nice to see that against Newcastle, all that hard work paying off. “What areas can I make better?”, he always asked himself that.
'I know Chelsea are bitter about it and I am not surprised by that, but that is the reality of football.’
Speaking of areas to improve, one was late runs into the back post. When watching Ngumoha for Liverpool's Under 18s and Under 21s last year, one worry Daily Mail Sport had was that he was a supreme dribbler but often overplayed; a great runner, but could he finish? How wrong we were. By Liverpool's pre-season tour, he was banging in goals against talented teams and knowing when to release the ball.
Some observers had doubts over the 17-year-old's ability to make the right runs and produce goals and assists - but they have already been proved wrong
Liverpool and England both have a generational talent on their hands in Ngumoha
Barry Lewtas, Liverpool's former academy manager - who is now with England but was back at the academy for a scouting mission at an Under 19s game last week - spent a lot of time with Ngumoha working on off-the-ball movement.
‘Make the back post, make the back post,’ coaches would demand of Ngumoha, referring to where he should be running when team-mates had the ball. Lewtas and Co would have smiled, then, when his last-minute winner at Newcastle came after an off-the-ball dart to the far stick.
Ngumoha plays football like a kid on the street, a Brazilian street player born in the wrong country perhaps. Get the ball, head up, go. A player nicknamed ‘Mr 1v1’ by first-team colleagues including Jeremie Frimpong. Rumour has it Liverpool’s media team have had to delete clips of Ngumoha embarrassing defenders twice his age in training.
Whether that is true or not, we will leave it open – but from what we know about Ngumoha, it will be. Liverpool and England both have a generational talent on their hands. As for that Ballon d’Or, he is still at the bottom of the mountain in his footballing journey – but has all the tools to climb to the very top.
