Andoni Iraola is expected to give one Liverpool player in particular a ‘more prominent role’ next season, according to one BBC reporter.
There weren’t many positives for Reds fans to take from a chastening 2025/26 campaign, but among the biggest was the emergence of Rio Ngumoha as a genuine first-team option, going from a Premier League debut in August to starting the final three matches in May.
His form at club level earned him a call-up to the England squad for two friendlies prior to the World Cup, with the 17-year-old making his debut against New Zealand earlier this month and earning rave reviews from the media for his performance.
As the months progressed and Liverpool so often struggled in attack, there was an increased clamour from pundits and fans for the teenager to be handed more game-time, and a reliable source has indicated that Iraola could go along with those wishes.
In an article for BBC Sport assessing the Reds’ attacking options with a look ahead to next season, Adam Patel wrote that the ‘talented’ Ngumoha is ‘set to play a more prominent role’ for the Reds in the next 12 months.
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Ngumoha made 29 appearances last term and accrued 952 minutes of game-time (Transfermarkt), which on the surface would suggest that Arne Slot wasn’t slow to hand him his opportunity at Liverpool.
However, he started just 10 matches in total, and half of those were in much-changed line-ups in domestic cup competitions, with the youngster mostly confined to substitute appearances lasting somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes (Transfermarkt).
Competition for the left-sided berth at Anfield has since increased with the arrival of Victor Munoz, although he might be used on the right flank as Mo Salah’s replacemenet if the Reds don’t manage to sign Yan Diomande.
Whatever might transpire in that regard, the sheer number of fixtures that Liverpool will play in 2026/27 (48 at a minimum, probably more depending on progression in knockout competitions) will require Iraola to utilise the full depth of his squad.
That should duly mean that – in a development which’d surely delight the fan base – we get to see plenty of Ngumoha terrorising opposition defences next season, with the outrageously talented 17-year-old become impossible to ignore.
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I am very much in support of that, that Ngumoha should get more minutes to gain confidence on the pitch.
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