For a teenager at the centre of a three-club tug-of-war, Rio Ngumoha had let the noise build without saying a word. That changed last Saturday evening.
Pressed on the swirl of transfer links after Liverpool’s 2-1 win at Brentford on 17 October, the winger pointed reporters toward his older brother James, who acts as his agent, and offered his first public steer on where the talks stand.
“To be fair, that is all with my agent now. I think it is all going well. I am not too sure. I just let my football do the talking at the end of the day.”
His current deal at Anfield runs until the summer of 2028. Liverpool want to tie him down for longer and on improved terms.
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‘When, not if’
Daily Mail reporter Lewis Steele, writing on 22 October, framed the renewal as all but a formality. The 18-year-old is “on course to extend his deal,” Steele wrote, and the new contract looks a matter of “when” not “if” despite the external interest.
“Sources close to the player have told us he loves the club and wants to commit his long-term future.”
Ornstein confirms Arsenal
The Athletic’s David Ornstein moved Arsenal from rumour to confirmed suitor last month, reporting that the Gunners like the young winger and hold an interest in signing him, while Liverpool remain keen to renew his contract.
Bayern’s unfinished business
Bayern Munich’s interest is older, and, by their own account, more advanced. Italian transfer specialist Gianluca Di Marzio has reported that the German champions are “pushing for” the player and that head coach Vincent Kompany spoke to him personally during the summer to try to tempt him to Munich.
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Bayern had reportedly reached a verbal agreement with Ngumoha in the summer on personal terms, but Liverpool told them he was not for sale, and no formal follow-up approach to Anfield materialised.
“It’s hard to imagine Liverpool letting him go,” Di Marzio said.
In Liverpool’s Champions League meeting with Villarreal on 22 October, Ngumoha produced two assists and seven successful take-ons, a return described as the first of its kind in the competition since a young Kylian Mbappé did it for PSG against Istanbul Basaksehir in 2020. The price of prising him away from Merseyside is only climbing.
Ngumoha was on the pitch at Brentford on 17 October when he drew a stoppage-time second yellow out of Brentford’s Vitaly Janelt, with referee John Brooks sending the German off after the challenge on the Liverpool winger.
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