Liverpool starlet Rio Ngumoha is being targeted by Spanish giants Real Madrid after his impressive start to life at Anfield, according to reports.
Although the talents of the England Under-17 international had been known for some time, Ngumoha announced himself at the Reds in pre-season with two goals and two assists.
Since then, Ngumoha has become Liverpool‘s youngest ever goalscorer after scoring the winning goal in a 3-2 win over Newcastle United at St James’ Park last month, days before his 17th birthday.
Ngumoha was again included in the matchday squad as Liverpool beat Arsenal 1-0 over the weekend and Arne Slot has revealed that he will be given the opportunity to fight for playing time in the first team.
The former Chelsea academy star revealed recently that he believes he can win the Ballon d’Or one day, he said: “I truly believe I can win the Ballon d’Or one day. I want to be regarded as one of the best players to ever play football and be a legend of the game.”
And now Spanish website Defensa Central claims that Ngumoha ‘has been wooed’ by Real Madrid and is ‘being targeted’ by the La Liga champions.
Trent Alexander-Arnold made the move from Anfield to the Bernabeu over the summer, while Ibrahima Konate and Alexis Mac Allister have also been linked.
The latest report insists that ‘his name will be in the spotlight sooner rather than later’ and Real Madrid are ‘understandably keeping an eye on his situation’.
Liverpool are ‘already working to renew his contract’ and ‘everything is in the hands of the young player, who will have to make a decision in the coming months’.
Ngumoha has ‘made it clear that he has a certain love for Real Madrid’ and now the La Liga giants are ‘closely monitoring’ the 17-year-old’s progress in case a deal can be done.
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His team-mate Mohamed Salah has given Ngumoha some advice after a meteoric rise over the last couple of months, telling him to avoid social media.
Salah told the Men in Blazers podcast: “He’s still so young. I told him after the game: ‘Just leave the social media alone’. OK, you can be happy about the goal with your family, with your friends. Enjoy the moment to the max because it’s like your first moments in football.”
“But don’t really get engaged and just get your appreciation from outside world because it’s always going to be fake. You’re going to always try to seek that – that feeling from outside if you just get the appreciation from outside.
“So what future is waiting for him? It depends how he’s going to handle the situation. How are we going to work? I need to work hard and just stay humble because he’s very young. I told him that some players peak too early and they’re going to struggle after that.
“I really wish him the best. He has a good group (here around him) and we always try to speak with him – and the manager (Arne Slot) also speaks to him, so he just needs to stay humble and work and see how things go.”
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