Rio Ngumoha officially confirmed his arrival at the Liverpool Academy earlier this week after his move from Chelsea was ratified by the Premier League

New Liverpool youngster Rio Ngumoha officially joined the club in September and was given a tour of Anfield on his arrival

Not every Liverpool Academy transfer comes with a blessing from a former England captain, but then not every deal has quite piqued the curiosity as the one that has taken teenager Rio Ngumoha from Chelsea to Liverpool.

And while Chelsea are still said to be furious at losing a hugely talented young player to a direct Premier League, club legend John Terry could do little but wish the young winger well on his next venture.



“This boy is and will be a top top player."

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On the surface, the transfer doesn't appear to be unlike any other; Liverpool have always scoured the length and breadth of the country to try and acquire those who they feel are the best around for their junior ranks.

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And while some have wisely attempted to paint the deal as a simple case of the Reds moving for a young player with plenty of promise, away from the intense glare of the first-team fortunes, there is more than meets the eye to a transfer that has left the Londoners frustrated at seeing him shuffle out of Cobham way before his peak years have arrived.

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It was back in July when it first came to light that Liverpool had moved for Ngumoha after tracking the England Under-16 international for some time prior to making their advances, and while there was never any formal recognition of the academy agreement on official club channels, some supporters had started to become uneasy by the apparent lack of progress last month as they awaited some form of confirmation that Ngumoha is now a Liverpool player.

The ECHO was told last month that the player and the club were simply in the process of concluding the five-stage process that needed to be ratified by the Premier League before the switch could become official.

As he rejected Chelsea's scholarship offer, they will be entitled to a compensation fee from Liverpool, although it's unclear at this stage what that sum might be.

Ngumoha was unveiled as a Liverpool player on his own social media accounts on Wednesday as he spoke of his delight at finally concluding the terms.

The teenager was whisked up to the AXA Training Centre in Kirkby to put the finishing touches on his move before being given a guided tour of Anfield with friends and family.

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Liverpool, as is standard for their young hopefuls, have not tagged on the bells and whistles to Ngumoha's arrival publicly and they are keen not to place too much pressure on his shoulders at such a fledgling stage of his football journey either.

That is not a strategy that is unique to the winger but rather a rule of thumb for anyone brought into the Academy setup at the club's Kirkby base.

It's expected Ngumoha will be blooded into the Under-18s setup with Marc Bridge-Wilkinson for the coming campaign before being assessed for a potential call-up to the U21s and having seen so many of his crop move on loan during the transfer window, boss Barry Lewtas will be keen to get his hands on as much quality as possible for the Premier League 2 campaign ahead.

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For now the U18s are beckoning and he could make his debut at home to Blackburn Rovers on September 14 for Bridge-Wilkinson.

Suggestions Liverpool have broken their wage structure to land the winger have been rubbished in robust terms and it's understood the arrival of Ngumoha is in-keeping with existing policies that are strictly set out by long-serving Academy director Alex Inglethorpe.

He has been placed on a scholarship wage and Liverpool's recent track record of blooding players from their academy ranks into the first-team is understood to have been key to the decision over the move, with the 2024 Carabao Cup final cited as the perfect example of the two contrasting strategies at both Anfield and Stamford Bridge.

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Jurgen Klopp's side won the game at Wembley 1-0 thanks to Virgil van Dijk's extra-time header but finished the match with James McConnell, Bobby Clark and Jayden Danns all on the pitch and they were also able to name Caoimhin Kelleher, Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley and Harvey Elliott in the team on the day.

Both Quansah and Bradley have since emerged as first-team options for the long term based on the back of them grasping their respective chances last season, while the likes of Kaide Gordon, Ben Doak and Lewis Koumas all earned senior minutes as Trey Nyoni became the youngest player to feature for the Reds in an FA Cup tie, aged 16 years and 243 days.

In contrast, Chelsea have signed around 40 players since the summer of 2022 with owner Todd Boehly and his Clearlake Capital consortium committing well over £1billion on transfer incomings since taking over from Roman Abramovich.

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Such an eye-watering outlay has inevitably had an impact on the ability of Chelsea's teenage talents to stake their claim but the club's willingness to invest huge sums for players in a similar age range from around the world has also been an issue.

In June 2023, it was confirmed Chelsea would be signing Kendry Paez from Ecuador side Independiente del Valle for around £18m to join up with his new club after his 18th birthday next year, while it was reported earlier this year that the Londoners have also coughed up £29m to land 17-year-old Estevao Willian from Brazilian side Palmeiras.

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The path to Stamford Bridge stardom for young English players has rarely been strewn with more obstacles over the past two decades but there are some with knowledge of the situation who have also argued Chelsea didn't do enough to keep him at the club either.

Ngumoha, for example, was left on the bench for the Premier League's Under-17s Cup final against Wolves at Molinuex in April.
For more news relating to Chelsea, visit our sister site Chelsea Latest Live.