Liverpool concluded their pre-season tour of Asia with a 3-1 win in Japan.
The Reds have had a frantic summer in terms of transfers and on the same day that Luis Diaz’s move to Bayern Munich was confirmed, they managed to get the win against Yokohama F. Marinos.
Despite going a goal behind, they managed to recover well and end their pre-season tour with a win, with new signings and youngsters in particular shining.
Florian Wirtz got his first goal for the club, Trey Nyoni found the back of the net and Rio Ngumoha got a goal that his performances have deserved.
The latter in particular really excelled and set the game alight when he came on, with Neil Mellor believing that this could be his year to really kick on.
Neil Mellor thinks Rio Ngumoha will benefit from Luis Diaz leaving
Losing a player of Diaz’s quality will certainly hurt given just how good a season he had last year, but every cloud has a silver lining.
And, with Ngumoha showing his quality yet again, Liverpool fans might think that a replacement is not needed, and Mellor might just have the same opinion.
“Now that Diaz has gone, his mentality will be that ‘there is one less person in front of me’, can I be involved in match days?” Mellor told LFCTV after the game.
“Not necessarily starting games, but to be in and around the dressing room with the Premier League champions, game after game, it will give him that opportunity to learn what is expected from him at Liverpool.
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“This is where he wants his future to be rather than going out on loan in the Championship where it is completely different. This is his season to make that happen.”
At just 16, the pressure on him to fill the void Diaz has left is certainly great, but based on how he has played over the last few weeks, it would suggest he does not feel this pressure at all.
Rio Ngumoha is a similar profile to Luis Diaz
One positive about losing Diaz is that he is replaceable and the Reds might not have to look too far as Ngumoha is a similar profile.
Both are pacy, tricky and like to go both ways with the football, with their direct running striking fear into their opponents’ eyes.
And, despite being so young, he has an end product to match, with the Englishman taking his goal nicely after a winding run.
As many have said in the past, people need to be careful overhyping the winger too much, but when he continues to impress like he did in Japan, it is very hard not to.
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