A vacancy has arisen on the left of Liverpool\u2019s forward line and an early, eye-catching application to fill the role has arrived from a 16-year-old. Rio Ngumoha further enhanced his first\u2011team claims with a sparkling display against Athletic Bilbao that underlined the formidable strength, and options, available to Arne Slot.<\/p>\n
Ngumoha opened the scoring superbly and teed up a goal for Darwin N\u00fa\u00f1ez inside five minutes at Anfield in the first of two pre-season friendlies against the Basque club.<\/p>\n
A packed Anfield crowd had to wait for the second fixture to catch a first glimpse of new signings Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Hugo Ekitik\u00e9 and Jeremie Frimpong. Ngumoha kept them entertained before then as Liverpool recorded a comfortable 4-1 win in match one. The second game also went Liverpool\u2019s way, a 3-2 victory in which Wirtz, Ekitik\u00e9 and Frimpong added to the flowing, blistering quality of the champions\u2019 attacking play.<\/p>\n
Ngumoha is not eligible to sign a professional contract until he turns 17 on the 29th of this month but showed why Chelsea were livid when Liverpool tempted him away from their academy last summer. In only the second minute of his second senior appearance at Anfield the teenager, who made his full debut against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup last season, set off from halfway and, with Athletic defenders all in retreat, curled an excellent finish into the bottom corner of the Kop goal from 20 yards.<\/p>\n
The left winger produced something similar in Liverpool\u2019s previous pre\u2011season outing against Yokohama\u00a0F Marinos last week. That goal came on the day Luis D\u00edaz completed his \u00a365.5m transfer to Bayern Munich<\/a>, creating an opening on the left that could be filled by any one of Cody Gakpo, Wirtz, Ekitik\u00e9 and perhaps the 16-year-old talent from London. His display was enough to prompt chants of \u201cRio\u201d from the Kop and a song in his honour from the singer who appeared during the interval.<\/p>\n Ngumoha\u2019s emergence \u2013 predicted with confidence by John Terry when he lamented the youngster\u2019s exit from Chelsea \u2013 is timely for Liverpool as they await Newcastle\u2019s next move on Alexander Isak. There may not be a rush to replace D\u00edaz directly given the options already at Slot\u2019s disposal. The Premier League champions can\u00a0afford to wait on their prime target for the No 9 role and leave their \u00a3110m offer for Isak on Newcastle\u2019s table.<\/p>\n A Liverpool fan holds up a scarf in tribute for Diogo Jota. Photograph: Peter Byrne\/PA<\/p>\n Three minutes after his individual goal Ngumoha headed down a Ben Doak cross for N\u00fa\u00f1ez to\u00a0convert from close range. Anyone looking for clues as to N\u00fa\u00f1ez\u2019s next step \u2013 with Al-Hilal interested in taking him to the Saudi Pro League \u2013 will have noted the hand-on-the-heart celebration that followed from the \u00a360m-rated Uruguay international in front of the Kop. A glimpse of Liverpool\u2019s past and future, perhaps. Doak and Harvey Elliott, two other players who could leave Anfield in this window, were also on the scoresheet in the first contest against Ernesto Valverde\u2019s side. Ngumoha\u2019s footwork and pace also impressed in the 67 minutes he was on the pitch. He received a well-earned rousing reception when replaced by Trent Kon\u00e9-Doherty.<\/p>\n The opening game started at 5pm as scheduled despite supporters in the Main Stand having to be evacuated just over an hour before kick-off due to a false alarm.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Football Daily<\/p>\n Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n