How much Liverpool need to pay after signing Rio Ngumoha

Liverpool signed Rio Ngumoha from Chelsea’s academy last summer.

Aged only 15 at the time, the English winger was seen as one of the best players on the Blues’ books. The signing caused no shortage of consternation over at Stamford Bridge and Ngumoha’s career is going from strength to strength in red.

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Ngumoha, who turned 17 last week, is due his first professional deal and is part of the first-team setup under Arne Slot. That promotion caps a remarkable first year on Merseyside for Ngumoha, who rose quickly through the Liverpool ranks.

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He played for the under-18s, the under-21s in Premier League 2 and at UEFA Youth League level last season. The electrifying winger also featured for the first team during his first season at the club - debuting in the FA Cup against Accrington in January.

Ngumoha compared to Elliott deal

Over the summer he enjoyed a fantastic preseason before earning his place in the squad following the departure of Luis Diaz. There is still the matter of sorting out Ngumoha’s transfer fee however.

The overall package will be decided at tribunal as the clubs have been unable to come to an agreement over a fee.

The situation bears resemblance to the one which saw Harvey Elliott join the Reds aged 16 from Fulham. And Stefan Borson, a football finance expert, has revealed how much the Anfield club could end up paying for Ngumoha.

Liverpool could pay £5m to £7m for Rio

“It’ll be a few million quid,” Borson told Football Insider before breaking down the Elliott deal.

“They paid a basic fee of £1.2million, with add-ons effectively.

“The fee could rise by another £2.6million, subject to a number of clauses being met based on cumulative first-team appearances and international recognition.

“And to get the full £4.3million, Elliott would need to play more than 100 games for Liverpool and be a senior international for England. They gave Fulham a sell-on clause as well. I mean, there’s the precedent.

“With an inflationary increase, I think you’re looking at about £5-7million maybe, which of course in the context of what we’ve seen this summer is a no-brainer.

“But the situation seems pretty similar. The ages that the player was acquired seems pretty similar, and then the structure of the deal seems pretty similar as well.”

So Liverpool could have Ngumoha on board for as little as £5m. Given the sums being thrown around this summer for largely inferior - albeit older - players this could end up being the steal of the century.

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