Rio Chima Ngumoha (born 29 August 2008) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an attacker or attacking midfielder for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Club career

Chelsea

Youth career

Ngumoha was a member of the Chelsea academy and scored in Chelsea's 3–1 win over Wolves in the U17 Premier League Cup final in April 2024.

Liverpool

Youth career

Ngumoha joined

in the summer of 2024. An attacking player, he made his debut for the Liverpool U18 side as a 16 year-old at the start of the 2024–25 season against Blackburn Rovers U18. During the September international break Ngumoha trained with members of the first-team still in Liverpool. That month, he made his debut in the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

against AC Milan.

2024–25: First team call-up

In the autumn of the 2024–25 season Ngumoha was called-up to train with the Liverpool first team squad by manager

Arne Slot Arend Martijn "Arne" Slot (; born 17 September 1978) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of club Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. He is regarded as one of t ...

. He was named amongst the match day substitutes for Liverpool's

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

tie against

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on 18 December 2024. On 11 January 2025, Ngumoha made his professional debut as a starter in Liverpool's 4-0 win against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. He became the youngest Liverpool player to appear in the FA Cup aged 16 years, 135 days and at the same time became the youngest player to start a first-team game in the club's history, before being substituted off for Jayden Danns in the 71st minute.

International career

Born in England, Ngumoha is of Nigerian descent. He made his England under-15 and England U16 debuts in 2023. In October 2024 he played for England U17. He was called-up for the

2025 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2025 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (41st edition if the under-16 era is included), the annual international football competition contested by the men's under-17 national te ...

Style of play

Described as a “skillful” and “creative forward" Ngumoha was included in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''’s ''Next Generation 2024: 20 of the best talents at Premier League clubs'' series.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngumoha, Rio 2008 births Living people Footballers from London English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers English people of Nigerian descent Men's association football forwards Chelsea F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people 21st-century English sportsmen