'Excellent prospect' Ngumoha stars for Liverpool - but who is he?

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Liverpool's prominent summer signings made their debuts at Anfield, yet it was 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha who captured the spotlight, even though he did not participate in the same match as his new teammates.

The Reds engaged in an uncommon double-header against Athletic Bilbao, featuring their second-string teams clashing at 17:00 BST, followed by the first teams competing at 20:00.

Ngumoha, an England Under-17 forward, took to the field for the initial match, quickly making an impact with both a goal and an assist within the first five minutes.

The match concluded with a score of 4-1, with contributions from Darwin Nunez, Ben Doak, and Harvey Elliott also adding to the tally.

In the later first-team encounter, manager Arne Slot deployed summer recruits valued at £263.5 million.

This included midfielder Florian Wirtz, forward Hugo Ekitike, full-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who finally joined the club a year after their agreement was reached.

However, it was Cody Gakpo who likely garnered the most attention, scoring twice in the right net and once in his own goal, leading Liverpool to a 3-2 victory. Mohamed Salah scored the first goal but later missed a penalty opportunity.

"In both matches, we created numerous chances and netted seven goals. It’s very gratifying to witness," remarked manager Slot.

'Ngumoha hype hard to contain'

Ngumoha, who will celebrate his 17th birthday later this month, shone once again during pre-season, prompting fans to speculate about his potential inclusion in the first team this season.

As the second youngest player to compete for Liverpool in a competitive match, he started this friendly on the left wing and attracted attention with his performance throughout the summer.

In just the second minute, he found the net by capitalizing on a loose ball in his own half, sprinting forward to curl an impressive shot from 20 yards.

Merely three minutes later, he redirected a cross from Doak down for Darwin Nunez to finish from close range.

Liverpool supporters were chanting his name as Curtis Jones encouraged them to express their admiration.

Ngumoha posed various challenges for the La Liga team with his skillful dribbling and agile maneuvers.

He departed to a standing ovation midway through the second half.

"He’s such a remarkable prospect," commented former Liverpool defender Gary Gillespie on LFC TV. "The challenge lies in managing expectations, but it’s nearly impossible to temper the excitement."

Slot remarked, "Every time in pre-season, Rio is showcasing his abilities."

Ngumoha's display follows an assist against AC Milan and a goal versus Yokohama F. Marinos during Asian friendlies.

He shows great promise, even if still unrefined, and will be looking forward to more opportunities in competitive first-team matches.

Earlier this year, Ngumoha made history as the youngest player to start a match for Liverpool, at just 16 years and 135 days, during the 4-0 FA Cup triumph over Accrington.

However, that remains his sole first-team appearance, and he did not make the bench for any Premier League matches.

This season could see a shift, especially with numerous changes in Liverpool’s forward lineup.

The tragic passing of center forward Diogo Jota in a vehicle accident has dominated Liverpool's pre-season narrative. Tributes honoring him were made both before and during the match at Anfield.

Winger Luis Diaz has transferred to Bayern Munich, and Nunez is now a target for clubs in the Saudi Pro League.

Should Nunez leave, the only real strong attacking options for the Reds would be Salah, the newly signed Ekitike, and Gakpo, which might create an opportunity for someone like Ngumoha to emerge.

That is assuming they don’t manage to bring in Newcastle striker Alexander Isak. An initial offer of £110 million was turned down.

"I’m not trying to rush things because I’m still quite young," Ngumoha remarked last week.

"However, I do want to demonstrate my capabilities to the manager and not become too complacent. My goal is to achieve greater success for both myself and the club."

Interestingly, Ngumoha is not a product of the Liverpool academy, having joined the club from Chelsea's youth system just last summer.

At that time, Blues legend John Terry commented, "this boy is and will be a top player."

He certainly appears to be correct.

Slot’s revamped Liverpool 2.0 shows encouraging potential

Slot accomplished the impressive feat of winning the Premier League title in his debut season with minimal signings, the only addition being fringe player Federico Chiesa.

Now, he is in the process of creating his own squad, and the early indications in a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation are promising.

The £100 million German attacking midfielder Wirtz displayed some exciting moments in the first half with remarkable touches, coming close to scoring several times.

In the right-back position, Frimpong showed traits similar to his predecessor, Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is now with Real Madrid—stronger in attack than in defense.

The Dutch player made good runs down the flank at Anfield but struggled with a free-kick into the box, which resulted in Oihan Sancet’s equalizer.

Former Bournemouth left-back Kerkez demonstrated solid performance. Ekitike was active and sprinted to the byline, assisting Salah's opening goal.

The Frenchman nearly scored his first goal at Anfield, but Gakpo took the ball off him and netted his second goal of the match.

This also included an accidental header into his own net from a flick-on by Maroan Sannadi, counting as his third.

Concerns linger regarding the center-back position. With Virgil van Dijk out due to illness and Joe Gomez unable to play due to injury, midfielder Wataro Endo was required to fill in at the back alongside Ibrahima Konate.

After that, options are limited to players out of their usual positions or youth players. In the opening match, 18-year-old midfielder Trey Nyoni had to cover that role.

"Today we hardly conceded any opportunities at all, which satisfied me," Slot stated.

"However, conceding from two set-pieces is not our objective, particularly against Palace next week in the Community Shield, as they excel in that area. This is another aspect we need to improve."