Real Madrid are keeping a keen eye on Liverpool wonderkid Rio Ngumoha, with the Spanish giants said to be exploring a possible summer 2026 move to Santiago Bernabeu for the teenager, according to reports from Football Transfers.
The 17-year-old has shown capabilities of being one of the hottest prospects in English football at the moment, and while he was always highly rated, his stock rose quite admirably after he scored that last-minute winner against Newcastle United at Anfield last month. While that goal not only gave the Merseysiders very valuable early three points in the Premier League, but the goal also went on to put Ngumoha as one of the Reds’ youngest-ever Premier League goalscorers.
Los Blancos circling as Rio Ngumoha
Now, according to reports by Defensa Central, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez is said to be “amazed” by Rio’s development at L4 of late, and he sees the teenager as a possible future Galactico. The Spanish giants are reportedly considering a serious move to pry him away to Spain next summer before he starts cementing his place as a regular for the Reds.
The report states how the scouts representing the Spanish capital city club have been tracking his progress throughout pre-season and the early stages of this campaign, and they are said to be impressed by how Ngumoha has been putting in performances beyond his age.
Liverpool will be pushing to keep hold of Rio Ngumoha
There is an expectation that Ngumoha will be penning down his first professional contract at L4 in the upcoming weeks, with the deal reportedly running until 2028, but that is not supposed to deter Real Madrid. There is no expectation of a release clause being there in any new contract, which means Perez will have to come down and negotiate a transfer fee himself.
Liverpool will be looking to keep hold of Ngumoha, and the Reds believe that he has the capacity to have a long-term role at Anfield. We saw how Slot has included him in the UEFA Champions League squad and that he is ahead of the likes of Federico Chiesa, which clearly shows how much the head coach trusts the teenager.
It is one of the classic cases of introducing teenage talent too early and then risking losing them as other big clubs look at their potential and turn to all tactics to pry them away. We saw something very similar with how Man City swooped in for Sterling all those years back, and now we see something very alike with Rio…