Next Mohamed Salah? What Liverpool wonderkid Rio Ngumoha ‘needs to change’ in bid to fill boots of Egyptian King at Anfield

Ngumoha, who moved to Merseyside after spending time in Chelsea’s academy system, enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in 2025-26. He registered his first goals - with the history books being rewritten on a regular basis - and is considered to be a hot prospect.

That potential has been noted elsewhere, with Bayern Munich said to be mulling over an approach at one stage as transfer speculation raged around France international Michael Olise at the Allianz Arena.

No move to the Bundesliga will be made just yet, with Liverpool ready to offer Ngumoha a more prominent role in their plans. He often lined up on the left flank last season, but there is now a high-profile opening on the right. Three-time PFA Player of the Year Salah has departed after netting 257 goals for the Reds and winning nine trophies.

No big-money addition has been brought in to replace the multiple Golden Boot winner, meaning that Ngumoha could get his chance. He did impress on the right wing when making his senior debut for England in a pre-World Cup friendly date with New Zealand.

Quizzed on whether the youngster is the heir to Salah’s throne and how he can set about filling that crown, former Liverpool striker Heskey - speaking exclusively to GOAL courtesy of Premier League betting site BetWright - said: “Possibly, I'd like to see it. Only thing is he needs to change his thought process because he's generally a left winger. So as long as he can change that, he's dangerous.

“I know that when you get a player that can dribble the way that he dribbles, inevitably it will pull players from other positions and gaps start to be had. And that's when you can start creating the overloads, etc., in different positions. So he's definitely one that looks very, very promising for the future. The only thing is, we can't expect the same goal tally Mo gave us from Rio. We won't get that.”

Another former Anfield favourite, John Barnes, told GOAL recently when asked what the “next step” looks like for Ngumoha - with his ability to tie opposition defences up in knots beyond question: “The next step is for him to play regularly.

“Because of course he didn't play regularly and we automatically assumed that all of a sudden he was going to be playing for England and be scoring goals and be the best player in the world. Unfortunately we do that to our young players too much. And he's now not even in the team.

“So therefore we have to allow him to develop and to grow slowly. And to slowly get into the team and cement a place in the team first before we start talking about him being a main player for Liverpool or a top player for England.

“You want him to do what's right for the team. It's okay expressing himself and beating five players and not having any end product. So it depends on what you consider to be his game. Because of course he's got to score goals.

“It's okay just beating players all the time but then after beating players, beating players, beating players, how many goals are you going to score? How many goals are you going to create? So that's how you're going to be judged. Not how good you look and how many players you can beat.

“So it's not a question of reining him in. It's a question of giving him end product and making him a valuable part of the team from that perspective.”

Ngumoha, who is being tipped to become a regular part of Thomas Tuchel’s plans heading towards Euro 2028, has helped Liverpool to complete their pre-season campaign ahead of the 2026-27 season.

That will be opened, as precious Premier League points come up for grabs once more, when heading to Newcastle on Sunday for a tricky test at St James’ Park against domestic foes that have seen their squad decimated during the summer transfer window.