The former Chelsea youngster was the star man for Liverpool in their Champions League win over Villarreal

Chelsea may be thinking what could have been as they look towards Liverpool this week. Former Blues’ youngster Rio Ngumoha continues to shine for the Reds.

Just over two years ago he was playing for Chelsea’s youth teams, before deciding to make the move to Liverpool. The Blues will receive a nominal fee of £2.8 million, rising to £6.8 million , for helping his development, but it won’t be anywhere near what the 18-year-old is worth.

Ngumoha is now a regular in the Liverpool first team squad. He made his full England debut in the summer as part of the World Cup warm-up squad.

The teenager was named in Liverpool’s starting lineup for Tuesday night’s Champions League clash vs Villarreal and was a standout player, providing two assists in a 4-3 win. His performance earned praise from Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola, who said there is more to come from the winger.

“That’s the good thing with Rio is he is still 18, he is not the full package, he can add things fortunately for us, he said, via the Liverpool Echo. “Hopefully he can continue in the same way. He’s not always going to be like this, he will have ups and downs in the process.

“But I’m happy because attitude-wise I think he’s in a great place.”

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He added: “He was coming from a very good game the other day in the second half against Brentford,” said the Reds boss. “Today he didn’t have an easy game also because they (Villarreal) were demanding him defensively, the left-back was attacking a lot.

“But there was a moment offensively where he has been very difficult to stop. If we can put Rio in situations one-v-one where he can get into the box, he normally makes plays and produces things and he had the assist for Alexis [Mac Allister].

“It’s a lovely play. He could have gone down for a penalty but he decides to continue and it was a great decision.”

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Losing the youngster will be something that Chelsea may look back on with regret. The Echo reported at the time that the Blues were ‘furious’ with the transfer.

The reason for the move was said to be the first-team opportunities on offer to the youngster at Anfield compared to at Stamford Bridge. He made his debut for Liverpool as a 16-year-old in January 2025, starting the FA Cup third round clash vs Accrington Stanley.

Ngumoha has gone on to play a further 38 times for the club so far, scoring twice and providing three assists. This season he has featured in all but two games in all competitions.

His development and performances in a red shirt may leave Chelsea thinking what could have been.