The Athletic are this afternoon reporting that 15 year old Chelsea wonderkid Rio Ngumoha is about to join Liverpool.
The youngster’s move is dependent on Premier League approval, but there doesn’t seem to be any reason why it wouldn’t be granted. James Pearce claims that Ngumoha will begin playing with the Reds’ Under-18s right away, but will not be able to train or play for them until that approval is granted.
Chelsea were hopeful until recently that Ngumoha would still accept a scholarship offer with them, but in the end he’s decided to go to Liverpool. Pearce points out that “the way pathway available for young players at Liverpool” was “key to his decision.”
The fact that he’s so talented, and the fact that he’s about to leave us just as he’s getting onto the radar of most fans is leading to some calling him the “new Musiala” by some. Having had to suffer through the Germany star’s recent rise to the top, we hate the idea of it happening again.
A bleak warning for Chelsea
It’s terrible for Chelsea to lose a talent as highly regarded as Ngumoha: he was player of the tournament when our Under-16s won the title last October, he’s considered one of the England Under-16s’ best players, and he’s so precocious he’s even played for the Chelsea Under-21s. In that respect, moving to Liverpool’s Under-18s will actually be a small (and temporary) step down.
But it’s even more terrible that this indicates there are serious concerns among the best players in our academy that they don’t have a clear pathway to the first team. This is something we’ve moaned about and warned about for a long time, and the effects are really being felt now. The pathway is only growing more blocked.
