Why Rio Ngumoha left Chelsea and how much did Liverpool pay to sign him?

Rio Ngumoha celebrates scoring Liverpool’s winning goal against Newcastle (Credits: REUTERS)

As Premier League debuts go, they don’t come much more memorable than Rio Ngumoha matchwinning cameo for Liverpool against Newcastle .

Thrown on as a late gamble by Arne Slot , who had seen his side throw away a two-goal lead against the Magpies, even the Dutchman could not have envisaged the impact his young winger would have made.

Still four days short of his 17th birthday, Ngumoha entered the St James’ Park bearpit as a virtual unknown, but left with a burgeoning reputation enhanced.

The winger displayed maturity beyond his tender years deep into injury-time when he arrived unmarked at the far post to sweep home Mohamed Salah ’s pass, dummied superbly by Dominik Szoboszlai , to secure a victory may well prove significant come the end of the season.

Hype around Ngumoha has been building for some time with the 16-year-old having made his first team debut back in January during the FA Cup win over Accrington Stanley.

Indeed, it became inevitable that he would feature for Liverpool this term after he starred in pre-season with eye-catching performances against the likes of F. Marinos and Athletic Bilbao.

While there is plenty more to come from the exciting winger, Ngumoha’s limited involvement has already vindicated his move to leave Chelsea nearly 12 months ago.

Rio Ngumoha celebrated with Liverpool manager Arne Slot after his astonishing Premier League debut (Credits: Sportimage)

While Chelsea’s Cobham academy has produced a number of gems over the course of the last decade, the route into the first team has been far from straightforward.

A number of potential stars have departed in search of regular senior football, while even those who have made the breakthrough have been sold as a consequence of the PSR benefits.

According to The Athletic at the time of his departure, Ngumoha was said to have felt that Liverpool would offer him a much more realistic chance of featuring in the Premier League with the likes of Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley and Trey Nyoni having been entrusted by Slot and his predecessor Jurgen Klopp .

James Vaughan still holds the record (Picture: Getty)

Having failed to agree a contract, Chelsea were powerless to prevent the England Under-17 international from leaving and were well aware they may have let a potential superstar slip through their grasp.

‘This boy is and will be a top player,’ said former Blues skipper John Terry at the time of Ngumoha’s move from Stamford Bridge to Anfield.

Indeed, the BBC report that so incensed were Chelsea by Ngumoha’s exit that they barred Liverpool scouts from attending their youth team matches.

Chelsea’s frustration was no doubt heightened by the fact that they are yet to receive financial recompense for losing a player of such obvious talent.

A tribunal will ultimately decide a transfer fee but the final total is unlikely to come anywhere close to representing an accurate reflection of Ngumoha’s true value.

As a guide, Liverpool signed Harvey Elliott as a 16-year-old in 2019 but it was only in 2021 that a tribunal ruled they would need to pay up to £4.3 million to Fulham .

Attention will now swiftly turn to Sunday’s summit meeting between the champions and the side who finished last season, and the previous two, as runners-up.

Both teams boast 100% records after two games and it will be interesting to see whether Slot will be confident enough to deploy Ngumoha against the division’s meanest defence.

‘It was a great goal for a 16-year-old,’ said Slot in response to Ngumoha’s matchwinning cameo.

‘Rio can finish so well for his age. I did hear someone say afterwards in the dressing room he would have taken a first touch but he is so confident. For his age he is a really good finisher.

Rio Ngumoha will be in contention to figure against Arsenal at the weekend (Picture: Getty)

‘I’m not too sure it was a football match today. It was set-piece after set-piece, long-throw after long-throw. We didn’t collapse and stood strong.

‘We didn’t play well enough on the ball. I don’t think there was so much open play. But we showed incredible character and kept fighting until the end.;

Liverpool captain Virgin van Dijk said: ‘It’s a dream debut for him. I think that whole attack was quite good. I think Harvey [Elliott] started it or our right-hand side and Fede [Chiesa] did the dummy. It was a perfect attack. We stayed calm at the end to find the right solution to score the goal.