England sent Rio Ngumoha demand as Liverpool star at risk of 'vanity project'

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Rio Ngumoha impressed during England's World Cup training camp, but former U21 boss Stuart Pearce warns that fast-tracking the Liverpool teenager risks disrupting his development pathwayRio Ngumoha thrived on his senior England debut against New Zealand(Image: Getty Images)Expectations surrounding Rio Ngumoha's emergence as a star will undoubtedly be exceptionally high next season as the teenage Liverpool winger aims to play a pivotal role in Andoni Iraola's revamped side.The former Chelsea academy talent featured 19 times under Arne Slot last season, predominantly as a substitute, as he burst onto the Premier League scene by netting a dramatic injury-time winner against Newcastle last August.Slot exercised caution in deploying the youngster throughout the campaign, but he gradually began giving Ngumoha starts toward the latter stages as Liverpool sought to secure Champions League qualification in what had been an underwhelming season overall.Ngumoha's sole other Premier League goal of the campaign arrived against Fulham at Anfield in April, but further opportunities emerged once the season had finished.Thomas Tuchel chose to include him in an extended England party traveling to North America to assist in preparing the 26-man squad he had already named for the Three Lions' World Cup challenge.While it was likely not intended, the young Liverpool winger captured the spotlight in warm-up fixtures, impressing against New Zealand before scoring what has been labeled a "breathtaking goal" in a behind-closed-doors encounter against a Miami XI.Stuart Pearce has offered his opinion(Image: Getty Images)The glowing praise prompted speculation that Tuchel perhaps ought to have included Ngumoha in his World Cup squad as an outside choice, and may have lived to regret overlooking him.However, former England U21 boss Stuart Pearce believes the right call has been made, and has outlined why he feels that fast-tracking youngsters such as Ngumoha and Arsenal teenager Max Dowman into senior setups can ultimately prove detrimental.Speaking with Boyle Sports, who offer World Cup odds, Pearce, who earned 78 caps for England during his playing career, said: "When I was U21 manager for six years, I would only call a player up from a younger age group if they were going straight into the U21 starting lineup. The issue with not doing that and bringing players up just to sit on the bench is that it breaks the pathway."If you take a player like Dowman out of his age group, or someone like Rio Ngumoha, and put him with the seniors as a vanity project, you're disrupting that development pathway."We saw it before with Theo Walcott in 2012.

He was fast-tracked into senior tournaments but only ended up playing a handful of games in major summer competitions. He missed Olympic Games, U21 tournaments, and Under-20 tournaments because he was elevated too early."When you look at players like Messi and Ronaldo, they've played a huge number of games at youth level.

That experience matters."The point is simple: if you're going to take a young player, then you either play him or you leave him where he is. If you're not going to start him, it's a vanity project."Ngumoha's summer commitments in North America have now concluded, but he will shortly return to the AXA Training Ground.