Star announces himself as the player Arne Slot dreams of

Here's the player Arne Slot has needed at Liverpool. The one who could change the course of this season.

Liverpool haven’t had an easy season. It’s been remarkably difficult, in fact, as the Reds struggle to find anything resembling the form that won them the title in 2024/25.

There are a few reasons for that, too. In general, though, it can be summed up by the big summer overhaul that changed the structure of the squad and left Liverpool needing to click things together again.

However, it’s difficult to gets things to click together in such a way that your team is good if you’re missing vital pieces. Liverpool are certainly missing some of those.

Like, for instance, a winger. Only, they might have found one.

Rio Ngumoha changes the game

Liverpool sold Luis Diaz in the summer and decided not to replace him. That left the squad without a 'proper' winger - someone who wants to run at defenders and take them on.

Not having such a player in the senior side has hurt them dramatically, too. Liverpool struggle to stretch teams, struggle on the counter-attack and are far too predictable.

“Packing the team with midfielders is not something I am doing by choice,” Slot explained ealier this season. “I am doing it because certain players are not available and that is something that needs to be really clear.

“Because I am a manager now for six or seven years and I have always played with wingers and I have always changed my wingers with new wingers coming in."

For all the many qualities of Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah, their 2026 versions are not capable of delivering that explosive quality. But Rio Ngumoha is.

It would be wrong to call Ngumoha 'forgotten' because every fan has been very aware that he's not playing this season. We've only seen him in a few bursts here and there, notably with a late winner at Newcastle United.

But he came on against Nottingham Forest this weekend and changed the game. Ngumoha delivered exactly what Slot's team has been missing this season, running at defenders with the ball - on both flanks, no less - and opening up Forest's defence.

The teenager is far from the finished article and isn't someone who should lead Liverpool's attack. At the same time, he absolutely does boast the exact skillset that the attack needs right now.

Simply starting Ngumoha would boost the team, providing an extra dimension that they sorely lack. Even if he's not the one scoring the goals, having such a player out there is only going to make life easier for everyone else.

Liverpool face a fierce battle over the next few months for the UEFA Champions League spots. It's time to unleash Ngumoha for that exact reason - his presence may make all the difference.

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