What Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk told Rio Ngumoha amid Liverpool wonderkid's latest step
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A remarkable summer for Rio Ngumoha extended into early September with two further landmarks achieved by the Liverpool sensation, mere days after celebrating his 17th birthday.
After finding the net three times during pre-season before etching his name into history as the Reds' youngest ever goalscorer with a dramatic 100th-minute winner at Newcastle last month aged just 16 years and 361 days, Ngumoha was subsequently awarded his England Under-19 bow in a 2-0 triumph over Ukraine on September 3 before earning inclusion in Arne Slot's Champions League squad for the group phase of Europe's most prestigious tournament on the very same day.
It has been several years since such intense anticipation surrounded a young talent emerging from the club's Academy.
"Potentially elite" was one source's concise assessment of Ngumoha when he arrived from Stamford Bridge last summer, whilst another who had monitored him closely during his Chelsea period expressed their conviction that the teenager deserves recognition amongst the finest young prospects in European football.
"His mentality is excellent," a source told the Liverpool Echo at the time.
Chelsea didn't help themselves, they didn't do enough [to keep him] over the last two years."
Previous mentors have discussed how Ngumoha would be amongst the final players to depart the gym during late evening sessions following training, and it's believed the youngster's sibling, James, plays a crucial role in maintaining perspective and preventing any premature elevation of expectations.
For the elder Ngumoha brother however, reinforcements are arriving to assist, with Mohamed Salah offering some wise counsel for a fresh teammate who is nearly half his age.
Rio Ngumoha is already making a name for himself at Liverpool.
Enjoy the moment to the max because it's like your first moments in football.
"But don't really get engaged and just get your appreciation from the outside world because it's always going to be fake.
You're going to always try to seek that – that feeling from outside if you just get the appreciation from outside.
"So what future is waiting for him depends how he's going to handle the situation.