Official: Rio Ngumoha signs first professional contract with Liverpool

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Liverpool have confirmed that their newest wonderkid, Rio Ngumoha, has signed his first professional contract with the club after breaking into the first team this season.

Ngumoha joined the Reds academy last summer from Chelsea, with a Premier League tribunal still deciding on the seven-figure amount Liverpool will have to pay for the youngster.

Having turned 17 at the end of August, Ngumoha is now eligible to sign professional terms and the England youth international has quickly penned a three-year contract keeping him at Anfield until 2028 – the longest deal he can currently sign.

Nguhoma rapidly progressed from Liverpool’s under-18 squad to their under-21s after his arrival before becoming the youngest player in the club’s history to start for the first team in the FA Cup against Accrington Stanley in January, aged 16 years and 135 days.

The teenager’s displays during pre-season also convinced Liverpool against signing another winger to replace Luis Diaz, with Ngumoha now considered as sufficient competition for the likes of Cody Gakpo and Federico Chiesa on the left flank.

Ngumoha repaid Arne Slot’s faith in him with a goal on his Premier League debut when he came off the bench to become the club’s youngest scorer after netting a last-minute winner against Newcastle in August aged 16 years and 361 days.

Slot: There aren’t many teenagers like Ngumoha

Ngumoha has continued to feature for Liverpool since his debut, with a cameo against Burnley and in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid before making his first start of the season in the Carabao Cup versus Southampton this week.

Speaking after Ngumoha’s goal against Newcastle, Slot praised the teenager’s maturity, saying: “He’s a player that can finish really well for his age. How firm his shot was, you don’t see this often for a 16-year-old.

“I did hear someone afterwards in the dressing room, I won’t say who, said they would have taken that ball, have a first touch, then finish it off. But he is so confident.

“That’s what I like, because the first ball he got he wasn’t afraid. He immediately took someone on. When the second player came, he got across him, and for him to score that goal is not completely a coincidence because for his age he is an amazing finisher.”

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