Rio Ngumoha‘s progress through the ranks at Liverpool will take another step next month with the young winger set to sign his first professional contract.
Ngumoha joined the Reds from Chelsea shortly after his 16th birthday last year and enjoyed an outstanding debut campaign.
That included a full first-team debut, starting against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup, along with regular outings for the U21s, U19s and U18s while training with the senior squad.
His development is set to continue in 2025/26 and could see further exposure to first-team football, with it likely he will be involved in pre-season.
And next month, which will mark Ngumoha’s 17th birthday, the teenager is in line to put pen to paper on a new contract.
Due to restrictions on youth signings he joined Liverpool on a scholarship, but players are able to sign professional deals as soon as they turn 17.
The maximum length of a first professional contract is three years, which would mean Ngumoha will be formally tied to Liverpool until 2028.
Ngumoha will almost certainly have already agreed provisional terms prior to his switch to Merseyside, with the club mapping out his trajectory in order to convince him his future is best served with them.
Liverpool could also announce professional deals for goalkeeper DJ Bernard, midfielder Ollie O’Connor, forward Joe Bradshaw and the versatile Prince Kobe Cisse later this month.
While those players are likely to remain in the academy for the time being there should be more opportunities for Ngumoha in the coming weeks and months.
Though details of the start to pre-season sessions are not widely known at this stage, the 16-year-old should be part of Arne Slot‘s squad for the warmup schedule and could feature against Preston on Sunday.
Liverpool will head on their tour of Asia later in July and Slot will make a decision on which youngsters he involves for the trip, which includes friendlies against AC Milan and Yokohama F. Marinos.
Pre-season concludes with a double-header against Athletic Club at Anfield and the Community Shield against Crystal Palace, with Ngumoha’s participation likely dependent on the impact he makes early in the summer.
He will be slated to start the new campaign as part of the Liverpool U21s squad, led by a new head coach in former Wales manager Rob Page.
Page was appointed as replacement for Barry Lewtas last month, while the club are yet to announce Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s successor as U18s head coach.
