Rio Ferdinand says Liverpool have a ‘special talent’ who could ‘dominate the Premier League’

Rio Ferdinand has said that Liverpool have a ‘special talent’ in their squad who could go on to ‘dominate the Premier League’ in future years.

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The 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday will be remembered for Alexis Mac Allister’s late interventions (the goal which was given and the one he had contentiously ruled out), and also for the standout performance of Rio Ngumoha off the bench.

The 17-year-old was on the pitch for little more than a quarter of an hour but made a massive impression in that time, completing more dribbles than Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo combined (Sofascore) and putting in a particularly exquisite cross to Hugo Ekitike, whose close-range header was saved by Stefan Ortega.

Ferdinand wowed by ‘special talent’ Ngumoha

On the latest episode of Rio Ferdinand Presents, the ex-Manchester United defender became the latest pundit to clamour for the Liverpool teenager to be handed a first Premier League start by Arne Slot.

The 47-year-old said of Ngumoha: “He looks like a breath of fresh air. He’s standing full-backs up. He’s taking them on and then clipping it [to the] back post, making the right decisions. He’s still gonna make mistakes, but how can he not be starting a few more games?

“If your wingers who are playing aren’t performing, then he’s got a right to sit there and ask for a little cameo and go, ‘Let me start a game, at least’. He looks electrifying and I saw this kid when he was 12, 13 years old. He is a special talent.”

Ferdinand also named the Liverpool starlet among a quartet of teenagers who could become household names in England’s top flight over the next few years.

He declared: “Right now, if I was going to put money on and going ‘these four’ – and you know what, it probably won’t even be these four that go and dominate the Premier League and do crazy things – if you were going to put your money on four kids right now, in the Premier League to do their thing, based on what you’re seeing now, you’ve got Rio at Liverpool, Max Dowman [Arsenal], JJ Gabriel at Man United, and Jesse Derry at Chelsea.”

Is it time for Ngumoha to get his first Premier League start?

Daniel Sturridge and Lewis Steele have both called for Slot to reward Ngumoha with more frequent game-time off the back of his latest performance, while Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports that the 17-year-old ‘changed the game’ after he came on at the City Ground on Sunday.

Up to now, the Liverpool head coach has proceeded with caution in terms of the teenager’s exposure to the first team, which is understandable considering his youth and the unforgiving scrutiny which comes with playing at an elite level.

We’ve also seen with numerous prodigious talents in the past that there’s a danger in overhyping them after only a handful of senior appearances and then seeing them struggle to live up to stratospheric expectations placed on them externally.

From everything that we’ve seen of Ngumoha so far, though, he appears to be taking all of that in his stride and playing in crucial first-team fixtures with a refreshing freedom and self-confidence, as can be seen in his propensity to take on (and often beat) much more established opponents.

In addition to his captivating dribbling skills, the teenager is also capable of producing sublime finishes, such as the ‘goal’ against Brighton in the FA Cup that he was wrongly denied because of an erroneous offside call (and the absence of VAR to potentially overturn the decision).

We’d be wary of making any grandiose predictions about his career for now, but we’d certainly approve if he were to be handed a first Premier League start when Liverpool host West Ham next Saturday.

It’s a pleasure to watch him in action, and for the time being we simply want to enjoy seeing what he can produce and what levels he might be capable of reaching in future years.

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