Most valuable player born in 2008 - Rio Ngumoha signs first contract with Liverpool

Star in the making 

Liverpool winger Rio Ngumoha has signed his first senior contract with the Anfield club, according to a statement on Thursday. The youngster was eligible for his first professional contract after turning 17 on August 29 and has now committed his future to the Premier League giants. Although Liverpool did not state the length of Ngumoha’s contract, his age dictates that the longest length of the deal is three years.

Ngumoha burst on to the scene for Liverpool in January of this year, when Arne Slot handed the young winger a starting spot in the club’s FA Cup third round clash with Accrington. Although he didn’t score in that match, he did bag his first goal for the club when he came on as a substitute in the club’s Premier League clash with Newcastle in August, scoring the winning goal of the match and becoming the youngest league goalscorer in the club’s history. One week prior to that he became the youngest player in European competition when he came on as a substitute in Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid.

The 17-year-old talent swapped London for Liverpool in mid 2004, when he departed Chelsea’s youth academy to join the Anfield club. Ngumoha made 25 appearances for the Anfield club’s youth teams, bagging two goals and three assists before being called up to Slot’s first team. Upon his 17th birthday, the English talent was awarded his first market value of €10 million - making him the most valuable player born in 2008 across the world and Liverpool’s 21st most valuable player. But it seems more than certain that his standing in Slot’s team will continue to rise in the coming years.