Though most of the attention has been on Liverpool’s remarkable summer spending spree, with the likes of Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz having featured prominently in the early weeks of the season, the Reds have continued to strengthen their academy standard.
Liverpool’s transfer business this summer has issued a declaration of intent to the rest of the Premier League and Europe. On Monday, capping off such ambitious spending, Alexander Isak completed his record-breaking move to the club, ending an unsavoury saga that culminated with FSG the victors.
Liverpool have sold a few of their forwards, in fairness, and moved for two strikers instead of signing a left winger.
Luis Diaz, indeed, joined Bayern Munich for £65.5m, but Slot thinks academy sensation Rio Ngumoha has what it takes to star in the Colombian’s stead over the coming year.
The meteoric developments of the Anfield side’s youth scene in recent years have played an enormous part in the top-level success, and it’s perhaps fair to say that the bar has never been higher.
Rio Nghumoha's big moment
It was a stunning moment. Liverpool had blown their lead against ten-man Newcastle United at St. James’ Park, and looked to be heading for a 2-2 draw in their second fixture of the season, having relied on a last-minute winner one week before against Bournemouth at Anfield.
It is only over the past several years that there has been a shift in youth quality, with ‘Klopp’s Kids’ notably playing a significant role in winning the Carabao Cup in 2023/24 and steering the ship through a period of steep injury problems.
Klopp’s decision in creating this culture took Liverpool above anything they had previously created through their youth system, the academy playing a bigger role than ever before.
Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes have since overseen the sales of several such youngsters, but Liverpool remain the source of some of the country’s finest football talent, with Nguomha the perfect example of this.
1
James Vaughan
16 yrs, 8 months, 27 days
2
James Milner
16 yrs, 11 months, 22 days
3
Wayne Rooney
16 yrs, 11 months, 25 days
4
Rio Ngumoha
16 yrs, 11 months, 26 days
5
Cesc Fabregas
17 yrs, 3 months, 21 days
Having turned 17 shortly after scoring the winner at Newcastle, Ngumoha is now one of the Premier League’s youngest goalscorers, and on his debut in the competition at that.
The electric-paced left winger has what it takes to be a future talisman at Liverpool, like Mohamed Salah before him and as Isak is expected to perform after his much-publicised move.
But, he’s not the only one in Slot’s sights, with Liverpool having also signed a young striker who might be viewed as becoming Isak’s understudy in the coming years.
Liverpool have a young version of Isak
In Isak, Liverpool have opted away from their typical strategy of signing up-and-coming prospects with bags of potential, and have instead landed a number nine they view as being in contention as one of the best in the world.
Last season, pundit Jamie Carragher even remarked that he was “the best striker in the Premier League right now”.
Liverpool would love to create a homegrown version of the Swede, and might find that they can do exactly that with teenager Will Wright, who joined the club from Salford City in League Two this summer.
Technically gifted and clinical in front of goal, Wright proved himself to be one of the most prolific youngsters in his sphere last season, scoring over 40 goals for the development side.
His ease and accuracy when finding space and taking a strike truly show how he could grow into one of the most dangerous players in the Premier League, with Total Football Analysis describing him as having ‘many of the characteristics to be a top-level centre-forward’.
Furthermore, the 17-year-old is already 6 foot 3, and so has that unique blend of lankiness and technical quality that falls into the same tactical DNA as a superstar like Isak, who uses his frame effortlessly to bypass defenders and find an opening to score.
Wright has already featured four times for the Liverpool U21s after earning as many first-team outings with Salford last season. Clearly, the Preston-born talent is held in high regard, belying his youth to impress at a higher level.
Isak, 25, might be a superstar right now after his prolific performances with Newcastle over the past three years, but he has developed over many years and different grounds, first finding his feet in the final third when a Borussia Dortmund prospect on loan in the Netherlands with Willem II. There he scored 13 goals across 16 matches in the Eredivisie.
In The Pipeline
Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.
If Wright succeeds in translating his form from the youth stage to the top level, he has shown that he has the physical attributes and natural-born goalscoring sense to make a real impact under Slot’s wing at Liverpool in the years to come.
Ngumoha might be the talk of the town after scoring the winner at Newcastle, coming up trumps in the most remarkable of ways to secure his side three points.
But Wright only needs some time to showcase his quality in the box, and fixtures in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this term might see him earn the chance to shine.
Isak is set to be Liverpool’s number one for quite some time, but with Ekitike bolstered by top talents like Wright, Liverpool have the depth to create a project of sustained success over many years.
