The Reds hosted a bizarre double header against Athletic Bilbao, with – loosely speaking – their second XIs playing at 17:00 BST and their first team playing at 20:00. England Under-17 striker Ngumoha played in the first game – and bagged a goal and an assist in the first five minutes. It finished 4-1 with Darwin Nunez, Ben Doak and Harvey Elliott also getting on the scoresheet.
Later in the first-team match, Arne Slot deployed £263.5m of his summer signings. They were midfielder Florian Wirtz, striker Hugo Ekitike, full-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili – whose move has been ratified a year on from when it was agreed.
But it was Cody Gakpo who most likely got the headlines – scoring once in both the right net and once in his own goal, as Liverpool beat 3-2. Mohamed Salah scored the opener and later missed a penalty. In both matches, we created plenty of chances and scored seven goals. Very pleasing to see,” said boss Slot.
Ngumoha, who turns 17 later this month, shone again in pre-season to get fans wondering if he could be part of the first team this year. The second youngest Liverpool player in a competitive game ever started this friendly on the left wing – and he caught the eye as he has done all summer.
The teenager scored after only the second minute as he sprinted onto a loose ball in his half before racing downfield and curling a good effort in from 20 yards out. Only three minutes later, he nodded a Doak cross down for Darwin Nunez to score from close range.Liverpool supporters were singing his name as Curtis Jones encouraged them to pay him their respect.
And he gave the La Liga club all sorts of grief with his trickery and ball juggling. The 16-year-old departed to an ovation from the crowd halfway through the second half. He is such a brilliant prospect,” said former Reds defender Gary Gillespie on LFC TV. The hard part is keeping expectations down, but it’s difficult to put a lid on it.”
Slot added: “Rio is doing things every time during pre-season. Ngumoha’s display came on the heels of an assist against AC Milan and a goal against Yokohama F. Marinos in Asian friendlies. He appears to be a good talent, if unpolished, and will be hoping more first-team competitive matches are in store.
In January, Ngumoha was the youngest player to be named in a Liverpool first-team match – at 16 years and 135 days old – for the 4-0 FA Cup victory over Accrington. However, that was his only first-team outing, and he never came off the bench for a Premier League match. That may well be altered this season, given the number of changes in the Liverpool forward line.
The tragic death of centre forward Diogo Jota in a road accident has been the centre point of Liverpool’s pre-season. There were tributes to him before and during the Anfield game. Winger Luis Diaz was transferred to Bayern Munich, and Nunez is on the Saudi Pro League sides’ wish list.
A Nunez exit would leave the Reds’ only genuinely potent frontline options as Salah, recruit Ekitike and Gakpo – opening up the door for someone like Ngumoha to come through. Unless they were able to secure the signing of Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, a £110m opening offer has been knocked back. I’m not in a rush because I’m still only young,” Ngumoha said last week.
“But at the same time, I just want to demonstrate to the manager what I can do and not get too comfortable. I just want to do better and bigger things for me and the club. Ngumoha is not strictly a Liverpool academy graduate, having only signed for Liverpool from Chelsea’s youth system last summer.
