Liverpool Close Door on Rio Ngumoha Amid Gakpo Uncertainty
Liverpool are digging in over one of their brightest young prospects – just as one of their established forwards edges towards the exit.
Liverpool shut the door on Rio Ngumoha
Bayern Munich thought there might be an opening. They have been tracking Rio Ngumoha, the 17-year-old left-winger Liverpool plucked from Chelsea, and see him as a perfect fit for their summer rebuild out wide.
That door is now firmly closed.
TEAMtalk’s transfer insider Graeme Bailey reports that Liverpool have no intention of selling Ngumoha in this window. No negotiations, no softening of the stance. The club plan to sit down with the teenager and discuss a new contract, a clear sign of how sharply his status has risen inside Anfield over the past few months.
The Secret Scout, the well-followed talent-spotting account on X, has echoed that shift. When Ngumoha arrived in 2024, Liverpool were open to the idea of moving him on to a European club with a buy-back style option, expecting him to split his time between the Under-18s and Under-21s.
Then he started to tear it up.
His performances over the season have altered the internal conversation. According to The Secret Scout, it would now take a “huge” fee for Liverpool to even consider a sale, with figures at the club viewing him as “one of the best wingers in the world” in terms of potential.
Bayern, and a clutch of other leading European sides, have been made aware of that reality. Interest is there. Availability is not.
Gakpo unsettled as Spurs circle
If Ngumoha represents the future, Cody Gakpo suddenly looks like part of a past that never quite materialised.
Soccer News in the Netherlands report that the Dutch forward now “wishes to leave” Liverpool. The trigger, they say, is the decision by Fenway Sports Group to dismiss Arne Slot before he had even taken charge and replace him with Andoni Iraola.
Gakpo, who arrived as a versatile, modern wide forward, had reason to believe a compatriot in the dugout might unlock his best form at Anfield. That prospect has vanished. In its place: uncertainty, and a concrete suitor.
Tottenham Hotspur have what is described as “serious interest” in the Netherlands international. Behind the scenes, according to the report, Spurs are already working on a plan to convince both the player and Liverpool over the coming weeks.
For Liverpool’s new regime, it is an early test. Keep a high-value, slightly underused asset and try to reignite him under Iraola, or cash in and reshape the attack around younger, hungrier profiles like Ngumoha.
Iraola’s midfield blueprint: Alex Scott in the frame
While the forward line simmers, the midfield is being quietly redrawn.
Andoni Iraola, set to take over at Anfield on a two-year contract, is pushing for a reunion with Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott. The 22-year-old flourished under Iraola on the south coast, and Liverpool are weighing a move that would make him the Spaniard’s first signing.
Journalist Jamie Dickenson reported on X that Liverpool are considering a £40 million bid for Scott. Bournemouth value their standout midfielder at around £60m, so any deal would require serious negotiation.
Scott is currently in Miami with Thomas Tuchel’s England squad and is expected to make his Three Lions debut in a friendly against New Zealand after a standout campaign. For now, his focus is international, but the queue at club level is forming.
Manchester United are watching. Tottenham are too – Scott grew up a Spurs supporter – yet Liverpool have the advantage of the Iraola connection and the promise of a central role in a revamped midfield.
Big numbers, bigger expectations
The scale of the rebuild facing Iraola is stark. Liverpool are also credited with interest in RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande, rated at around £100m, but the new head coach will be under pressure to extract far more from the club’s recent spending.
Last summer’s £415m outlay on the likes of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and others set a brutal benchmark. This time, the margin for error is slimmer, the scrutiny sharper.
Ngumoha staying, Gakpo agitating for a move, Scott and Diomande on the radar – these are not isolated stories. They are the early brushstrokes of what Iraola’s Liverpool will look like.
One question now looms over Anfield: in a summer of hard choices, who becomes the cornerstone of the next era, and who becomes the sacrifice to fund it?
