Liverpool Firm on Rio Ngumoha Amid Gakpo's Uncertainty

Liverpool are drawing a hard line over one of their brightest young prospects – just as one of their senior forwards edges towards the exit.

Rio Ngumoha, the 17-year-old winger who has turned heads inside the club since arriving from Chelsea, is no longer for sale. Bayern Munich have been circling, identifying him as a prime candidate for their left flank this summer, but Liverpool have shut the door.

Reports from TEAMtalk’s Graeme Bailey state that Liverpool now have “no plans whatsoever” to let Ngumoha go in this window. Instead, the club intend to open talks over a new contract, a clear sign of how sharply his status has risen in a matter of months.

From trade chip to untouchable

When Ngumoha first signed in 2024, Liverpool’s stance was very different. The Secret Scout, a well-followed talent-spotting account on X, claims the original idea was to be open to a sale to a European club with a buy-back-style option, with Ngumoha earmarked for the under-18s and under-21s.

Then he started playing.

Strong performances over the season have forced a rethink. The same report says Liverpool now regard him as one of the best young wingers anywhere and would only even listen to a “huge” offer. Bayern’s interest is real, but the price of admission has rocketed.

For a club that has spent years carefully managing its pathway from academy to first team, this is a familiar pattern: once a teenager proves he can live with the demands, the hierarchy moves quickly to protect the asset. Ngumoha has clearly crossed that threshold.

Gakpo unsettled as Spurs circle

While one winger’s future looks increasingly tied to Anfield, another’s appears to be loosening.

Cody Gakpo, according to Dutch outlet Soccer News, now “wishes to leave” Liverpool. The report links his desire to move with a major upheaval at the top: Fenway Sports Group’s decision to sack Arne Slot before he had truly settled and appoint Andoni Iraola in his place.

Into that uncertainty steps Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs are described as having “serious interest” in the Netherlands international and are already said to be working behind the scenes on a plan to persuade both player and club.

For Gakpo, whose Liverpool career has flickered without fully catching fire, a fresh project in North London could hold obvious appeal. For Liverpool, losing a versatile attacker while locking down a teenage winger underlines the sense of a squad entering another phase of transition.

Iraola turns to a familiar face

That transition will be felt most keenly in midfield, where Iraola is expected to put his stamp on the team quickly. One of his first moves could be to reunite with a player he knows well.

Liverpool are considering a £40m bid for Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott, according to journalist Jamie Dickenson. Bournemouth value the 22-year-old at closer to £60m, but the connection with Iraola is significant: the Spaniard worked with Scott on the south coast and rates him highly.

Scott is currently in Miami with Thomas Tuchel’s England squad and is set to make his Three Lions debut in a friendly against New Zealand, fresh from a standout season for Bournemouth. That rise has not gone unnoticed. Manchester United and Tottenham are also monitoring him, with Spurs holding a sentimental pull given Scott supported them as a boy.

If Liverpool push ahead, Scott could become Iraola’s first signing on Merseyside, linking up again with the coach who helped elevate his game in the Premier League.

Big numbers, bigger expectations

Dickenson also reports that Liverpool are tracking RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande, valued at around £100m, even as Iraola is tasked with extracting more from last summer’s enormous outlay – a £415m splurge on the likes of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and others.

The message is clear: recruitment will not slow, but the new manager must squeeze far more out of what is already in the building.

So Liverpool head into the summer with a teenager they now see as untouchable, a senior international who wants out, a former protégé of their incoming manager in their sights, and a heavyweight winger on the radar.

It feels less like a tweak and more like the opening moves in a full-scale reshaping of the attack.