Liverpool spent more than £440m to strengthen their squad last summer, but needed the 17-year-old academy graduate to breathe some life into a faltering season. But could Liverpool’s teenage star now be the key to Anfield’s famous Champions League comeback against Paris Saint-Germain?
Arne Slott’s Anfield future could depend on whether Liverpool can overcome a two-goal deficit in the first leg against the European champions, and Ngmoha’s goal and performance against Fulham presents the Dutch head coach with a choice dilemma.
Ngmoha, who became Liverpool’s youngest Premier League scorer at Anfield, was at the heart of a performance that revived their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. That should be enough for Liverpool to further solidify their spot in fifth place and seal their place next season.
But despite his impressive performance in his second Premier League start, Jamie Redknapp believes Ngmoha could be a better option off the bench against PSG.
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“I wouldn’t be surprised if Slott started him,” Redknapp said.
“That’s what I think now as we try to pick the best team for Liverpool for the big games. I like the midfield he ended up using against Fulham: (Alexis) Mac Allister, (Ryan) Grabenbirch and (Dominik) Szoboszlai.”
“I think it’s a midfield that has it all, and that was the midfield that almost won the league for Liverpool last year.
“If (Hugo) Ekitike starts at No. 9, we might need (Florian) Wirtz on the left and then (Mohamed) Salah, who obviously performed well on the right.
“I feel like we’re in good shape. It’s obviously reminiscent of last year. We’ll have (Alexander) Isak come off the bench if we need to, and we’ll have Rio come off the bench and give us a little bit of an X-factor.”
“If we can stay in the game, we don’t have to win the game in the first 20 minutes, but we can definitely lose it. It could be a game where we use these two players late in the game, and that could score goals and get the crowd going.”
“I guarantee he’s going to get some really valuable minutes in that game. But I’m happy for him, he certainly couldn’t have done more to push himself towards the start. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he did that.”
Redknapp also provided insight into Ngmoha’s development since leaving Chelsea and breaking into Liverpool’s first team. Ngmoha was at Chelsea at the same time as Redknapp’s son Bo Redknapp before joining the Merseyside club in 2024.
“The possibilities were very clear,” Redknapp revealed.
“Everyone saw it. He had a kind of natural X-factor. He was at Chelsea at the same time as my youngest son and we trained together in the same group.”
“It was quite amazing to see that. His older brother, who played a big role in his career, was definitely his development. He used to coach me one on one a lot and he even came to my house a few times and I just watched how he worked in Rio.”
“I’ve never seen a kid this quick, but it was a repeat. We talk about these things a lot now, but a lot of these players probably just don’t get enough training at their clubs. They train with one-on-one coaches, but there’s probably no better player than my brother, and no one knows him better than my brother.”
“So they worked together very well. For those who don’t know his history, he was one of the players that was highly regarded at Chelsea. They loved him and wanted to keep him. He left at 16 to go up there and it must have been really hard for him. It probably took him a little while to settle in. His first year at the academy probably wasn’t the kind of thing that helped him plan.
“This year he has kind of forced his way into the first-team squad and now, as you can see with the goal against Newcastle and the goal against Fulham, he is developing.”
“He enjoys it and it’s a great environment. It’s a tough environment. I did it myself when I was 17 when I signed for Liverpool and I’m grateful every day I got to do it.”
“He’s doing very well. He’s got to keep his head on his shoulders and keep working hard. He’s got great experienced players around him like Andy Robertson, so I’m very happy. He’s a really good young man and it’s great to meet him. I’ve known him since he was seven years old.”
