Rio Ngumoha has made a blistering start to his senior career with Liverpool, but he has yet to share a dressing room with the likes of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk. The English teenager only made his Premier League debut in August when he came off the bench and scored a stunning last-gasp winner in the Reds’ 3-2 win over Newcastle United.
The 17-year-old signed his first professional contract on Thursday, committing his future to the club until the summer of 2028. He has been handed more game time since his St James’ Park match-winning outing, already appearing in four games in three competitions, including the UEFA Champions League.
Ngumoha’s meteoric rise has come amid a slow integration into Arne Slot’s first team, which reportedly included the removal of clips of the English starlet catching the eye in training. But he also has yet to even prepare for a matchday with the senior squad in Anfield’s Boot Room.
Why Rio Ngumoha Isn’t Allowed in Liverpool’s Dressing Room
Ngumoha hasn’t looked out of place whenever on the pitch alongside high-profile names such as Salah, Van Dijk, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch. But he’ll have to wait until August 29 next year to start using a changing room with Slot’s senior troops.
An FA guideline stipulates that players under the age of 18 are legally defined as children and cannot change alongside adults. That means Arsenal attacker Max Dowman also won’t be sharing the facilities with the Gunners’ first-team for another two years come December, despite the 15-year-old being part of Mikel Arteta’s main squad.
While this is more a recommendation than a rule, it is a guideline that some Premier League clubs have grown concerned with. Arteta was put in a similar scenario last season before Ethan Nwaneri turned 18, and he said it was “unbelievable” and that he “needs to get dressed somewhere else, even on match day.”
Ngumoha is still benefitting from joining the senior camp and suggested during pre-season that fellow teen Trey Nyoni, 18, had helped him “really settle in”. The England U18 international also said that Salah was one of his idols and that it’s “really big learning from him”.
Who Is Rio Ngumoha’s Mentor?
One would imagine that some of Liverpool’s most exciting attackers would want to take Ngumoha under their wing and impart as much knowledge as possible at this stage of his career. But it seems that Andy Robertson is the one member of the Reds’ senior team who has played somewhat of a mentorship role.
Ngumoha discussed being bedded into Slot’s first team during pre-season and touched on Robertson (via Liverpoolfc.com): “Robbo has really helped me a lot. He’s so experienced and one of the best left-backs in the world. I feel like having him behind me, I can’t really ask for anything more. He’s experienced and teaches me a lot.”
Robertson is one of Liverpool’s longest-serving players, having been at Anfield since the summer of 2017. The Scottish left-back joined the Merseyside giants from Hull City at the age of 23 and has gone on to win every major trophy and make over 340 appearances.
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