Liverpool sold the best player in the world - and Slot is making Rio Ngumoha pay

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 27 Feb 2026 05:41 CST
• 4 min read

Nieuws

Arne Slot has been accused of gaslighting by Liverpool fans following his latest comments about Rio Ngumoha.

The 17-year-old has been a bright spark in a fairly drab campaign for the Reds and he impressed once again off the bench during Liverpool’s late 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest last weekend.

However, despite his form and the struggles of Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah this term, Ngumoha has rarely been used by Slot and he has amassed just 375 minutes of action across all competitions in 2025-26.

In the Premier League, Ngumoha has only been on the pitch for a mere 89 minutes.

When asked what Ngumoha must do to be rewarded with a place in the starting XI ahead of Liverpool’s clash against West Ham United on Saturday, Slot told reporters: “[It’s] another great example how you can manipulate data, not talking about cup and CL games, Rio has only played 90 mins PL, to be more realistic - or to tell the truth - then you see his playing time has improved massively over the last few weeks and that is because he has developed.

“People are talking about him because he is doing really well, we like that. It's another example of a player that someone wants to see more and more. It's all due to the fact he does well when he comes in.

“The highlight vs Forest was his 1v1 action and how important that is in football but he had a few other moments he did as well which we talk about. That is part of the development, I really like where he is now. If he stays fit, more minutes will come in the future.”

However, Slot’s comments don’t mirror Ngumoha’s actual involvement. The Dutchman’s claim that Ngumoha has been given more minutes in recent weeks due to his improved development on the training pitch simply isn’t true.

He has been an unused substitute in three of Liverpool’s past four Premier League matches, while he was only handed a 13-minute cameo versus Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup fourth round earlier this month.

In fact, Slot’s comments led one disgruntled Liverpool fan to post on X: “Rio has played 109 mins in the last 6 weeks.... always so much nonsense he [Slot] speaks.”

Of course, Ngumoha is still only 17 years old, but Gakpo, his main competitor for a starting berth on the left flank, hasn’t registered a single goal contribution in his last seven Premier League appearances, while he has only scored three times in all competitions since the end of October.

Luis Diaz war

Slot’s refusal to trust Ngumoha with meaningful minutes comes as a direct consequence of Liverpool’s decision to sell Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich last summer.

Diaz notched 25 goal involvements during his final season at Liverpool and after a scintillating start to life in Bavaria, he is now considered to be the best player in world football by data analytics experts SciSports.

Following Diaz’s departure, Slot wanted the club to sign a suitable replacement, with Bradley Barcola (Paris Saint-Germain) and Malick Fofana (Olympique Lyonnais) both identified as key targets by the Liverpool head coach, but the Anfield hierarchy refused to sanction a deal.

FootballTransfers understands that Slot was instead told to hand Ngumoha a more prominent role in the first-team. However, the Dutchman was keen to send the teenager out on loan and purchase a more experienced option to replace Diaz.

We have been informed that this has been a source of contention ever since and it suggests the real reason behind Ngumoha’s lack of involvement this campaign has nothing to do with his performances when trusted.

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•App Store