Rio Ngumoha has been in fine form for Liverpool this season, with the attacker even bagging his first Premier League goal.
In fact, he’s even been called up to Liverpool’s Champions League squad over Federico Chiesa this term, which fans have deemed a tad harsh from the Dutchman.
Currently, Liverpool have five senior attackers in their ranks, with Alexander Isak their latest addition, but given Slot’s apparent trust in Ngumoha, it’s as if they have six.
Indeed, the 17-year-old has bags of potential to fulfil, but it still feels far too early in his career for him to be a regular feature in the Reds’ starting XI.
Troy Deeney thinks Thomas Tuchel could be ‘stupid’ and call up Rio Ngumoha for the World Cup
In the world of football, you often don’t hit the peak of your powers until your early twenties.
Of course, Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal is an exception to this, but more often than not, it takes a long time for players to be called up to a club’s first-team squad.
In Ngumoha’s case, however, those rules clearly don’t apply to him because, at the moment, he’s one of the most-talked-about prospects in the Premier League.
And, while live on talkSPORT, Troy Deeney believes that Thomas Tuchel could end up adding the youngster to his World Cup squad this summer.
“This is England. We always do something stupid, don’t we,” he said.
“It’s like when we took Theo Walcott [to the 2006 World Cup at 17], because he was a young kid and he was rapid. And obviously Theo went on to have a great career.
“But who knows. If Rio keeps playing and being involved like he is now, and scores seven or eight goals, he could probably go.
“There’s a few [players] like that, that you’d have to just watch and see.”
Rio Ngumoha still needs time to develop at Liverpool before being thrown in the deep end
Although Slot and Ngumoha’s teammates clearly trust the youngster, it still feels like he needs time to develop.
The winger is lightning quick, has a good eye for a pass, and, evidently, he can also be relied upon to score if and when needed.
However, with the way things are going for him, it feels like he could be on a fast track to regular first-team football, and while this would be amazing for his on-pitch know-how, it could end up being too much, too soon.
He’s still just 17 years old, and while he may be better than some of his teammates on his day, the fact that they have more top-flight experience means that they’re likely to be much more level-headed on the pitch than the youngster.
Of course, if Ngumoha did end up getting called up to England’s World Cup squad, then it’s a testament to Liverpool’s academy coaches, but on the face of things, it still feels way too soon for him.
That is, even if Slot prefers him over Chiesa at the moment.
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