SerpApi.Org
For Liverpool as a club and many of the players individually, 2025-26 was a season to forget. For teenage rising star Rio Ngumoha on the wing, though, it certainly wasn’t all bad.
For Ngumoha, it was the season he firmly established himself in the first team. Now, under new head coach Andoni Iraola, he’s looking to take the next step—and after spending last season deployed only on the left, he says he sees himself playing on both the right and left wing for the Reds in 2026-27.
“I definitely want to help the team out with goals and assists, but also my defensive actions as well,” Ngumoha said of his goals for the upcoming season. “I’ve got to improve in both of them, but also just try to implement myself as a starter sometimes.
“Coming off the bench as well, obviously we have so many top players, we’re all competing for places. But it’s healthy competition. I just want to try to help the team as much as I can, really. Obviously, everyone knows I can play on the left, but on the right I feel like I’m improving and I’m getting better.
“But yeah, definitely off both the left and the right this season.”
Last season, Ngumoha played 29 games totalling a little less than 1,000 minutes. Those numbers are significant for a 17-year-old, and the minutes total will probably be expected to at least double this time around—though there will be some concerns about putting too much pressure on the youngester.
Liverpool’s squad was already a thin and unbalanced one last season, and the departure of legend Mohamed Salah and so far only one attacking signing in Victor Muñoz risks setting up head coach Iraola for failure and Ngumoha for being over-played.
While that may be what plenty of fans are worried about at the moment, though, for Ngumoha pre-season is about the positives, about the opportunity, and about the chance to take on a larger first team role.
“Now I feel like [my teammates] really see me as one of them,” he added. “Even though I’m still young they also treat me like one of them as well. It was good last season, not from the team point of view but I experienced a lot and gained a lot of experience.”
