The only club more annoyed by Rio Ngumoha’s late winner on Monday night than Newcastle United was Chelsea.
It is close to ten months ago since Chelsea decided to reject accreditation requests for Liverpool scouts, and scouts from Manchester United who were also interested in the attaacker, to attend academy games at the Blues’ Cobham Training Centre.
The reason being is that Liverpool secured the services of their highly-rated 16-year-old during the summer of 2024 (when he was then 15), despite the London club’s best attempts to keep their prized asset.
“The west London club’s decision has been interpreted as a response to losing [Ngumoha],” The Athletic reported at the time.
The teenager, who turns 17 on Friday, initially joined the Reds’ academy ranks, training with their U21s and lining out for the U18s and in the UEFA Youth League at U19s level.
But it is believed Ngumoha made the move knowing that he had a better chance of progressing through to the Premier League champions’ first team.
That decision was vindicated on Monday night when the winger emerged from the substitute’s bench at St James’ Park for his Premier League debut, before then becoming the youngest goalscorer in Liverpool’s history, and the fourth youngster in the Premier League overall.
To make matters worse for Chelsea, they only received compensation for losing Ngumoha rather than the significant fee he was surely worth.