Liverpool Officially Complete Signing of Chelsea Starlet Rio Ngumoha
09/04/2024 02:45 PM
The 16-year-old forward was counted by many as Chelsea's top academy talent and joins after the Reds satisfied the league's approval process.
Two months ago, Liverpool were reported to have won the chase for the signature of standout Chelsea academy forward Rio Ngumoha. The 16-year-old left winger had seen the Blues' squad bloat and focus on importing top young talent as detrimental to his progress and decided to sign his first professional deal elsewhere.
Even with Jürgen Klopp having departed the club, Liverpool were seen by the player and his family as offering his best chance to develop for a top English side. However, the Premier League's approval process for a youngster like Ngumoha switching clubs complicated matters and meant he hadn't been able to complete the move.
Today, multiplereports say that he has. While Liverpool are not expected to comment on the transfer of such a young player, he is now expected to begin training with and playing for the club at the U18 level. If he settles and impresses there, the next step would be to move up to playing with the club's U21 reserve team.
Ngumoha's promise at Chelsea was such that the English-Nigerian dual national youngster was given chances to train as early as the age of 15 during Mauricio Pochettino's time in charge at Stamford Bridge. There are currently no reports regarding the training compensation Chelsea could end up with for losing the player.
