Rio Ngumoha proves Liverpool pathway is open – but Academy challenge is clear

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Then, with one sweeping finish with his right foot, Ngumoha created a little piece of Liverpool history and announced himself on the global stage with a dramatic finish to earn the Reds a memorable 3-2 victory.Ngumoha, who had made his senior bow when starting the FA Cup win over Accrington Stanley back in January, became the youngest-ever Liverpool goalscorer at 16 years 361 days old and the fourth-youngest scorer in Premier League history.It was the ultimate vindication of the work of the Academy, whose sole aim is to prepare youngsters so they are ready to make an immediate impact in the first team.But, in some respects, it also pointed to the challenge increasingly facing those at Kirkby, where Alex Inglethorpe remains the director.Nguomha, by the very nature of him being a record-holder, is not the norm. Rare are players who are capable of stepping up in such an impressive fashion and, in the case of the teenager, being regularly involved in the matchday squad this season with eight first-team appearances before Christmas, including a debut in the Champions League."I think he has, I'm not 100% sure, the most minutes of all 17-year-olds in the Premier League," says Liverpool boss Arne Slot.

That, though, is so often the route in for young players, with a further five Academy graduates being given a senior debut during 2025.Winger Trent Kone-Doherty and right-back Isaac Mabaya featured in the FA Cup loss at Plymouth Argyle in February, while Kone-Doherty also came off the bench in the League Cup defeat to Crystal Palace in which attacking midfielder Kieran Morrison started and centre-back Wellity Lucky came on late in the second half.Then there was Amara Nallo, the teenage defender who set an unwanted record when sent off four minutes into his debut at PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League in January - the youngest Liverpool player to be dismissed - and then, in his second outing against Palace, lasted 12 minutes off the bench before once again being red-carded.Midfielder Trey Nyoni, meanwhile, became Liverpool's youngest player in European competition when featuring against PSV, and then made his Premier League debut late on in the action-packed win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.Liverpool's resurgence over the past decade to become one of the world's premier squads has raised the bar considerably for youngsters hoping to make a breakthrough that in previous times would have perhaps been easier.And where Ngumoha represents a growing trend is that he wasn't developed by Liverpool for much of his youth career, the Reds signing him only in the summer of 2024 from a disgruntled Chelsea.Nevertheless, the winger was still required to impress at both under-18 level working with Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and with Barry Lewtas at the U21s before he was ready to make the step up into Slot's squad. And it's bringing through players right through the ranks from an early age - as was the case with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jarell Quansah, who departed Liverpool in the summer - that is proving more demanding given the competition from rival nearby academies such as Manchester clubs City and United and neighbours Everton, let alone those further afield.Indeed, this has been a year of change at Kirkby, with long-time coaches Lewtas and Bridge-Wilkinson leaving at the end of last season and replaced by former Wales boss Rob Page and ex-Manchester United youth coach Simon Wiles respectively.The duo left after testing campaigns with the U21s and U18s, not helped by a succession of injuries which, while an inevitable consequence of growing pains among younger players, continue to contribute to some extremely disappointing results.The U21s scraped into the top 16 in Premier League 2 before losing to eventual winners Manchester City in the first play-off round, while the U18s finished 11th in the 13-team U18 Premier League North while shipping a whopping 71 goals in their 24 matches.This season has been very much the same story.

Liverpool are outside the play-off places in Premier League 2 having won only three of their nine games, although they did earn a victory on penalties in their final EFL Trophy match at Chesterfield after a 2-2 draw.The U18s, meanwhile, have slipped down the table after a good start and were dumped out of the FA Youth Cup at the first time of asking earlier this month, goals from Josh Sonni-Lambie and Finn Inglethorpe not enough to complete a comeback as the Reds lost 3-2 at home to Charlton Athletic a fortnight after being embarrassed 7-0 at Kirkby by Manchester United.Sonni-Lambie has been one of a number of individual successes with double figures in terms of goal and already having featured for the U21s at 18. Joe Bradshaw, the 17-year-old winger, is another to have started making the step up after impressing with the U18s.And both have featured in the UEFA Youth League where, despite a 5-0 thumping at Inter Milan last time out, Liverpool have reached the last 32 where they will face MSK Zilinia of Slovakia in February hoping to surpass last season's achievement when they lost at the same stage of the competition on penalties after a 2-2 draw at Stuttgart.There was a reminder of the importance of making an impact in Europe in October with Morrison's senior debut against Palace a direct result of having a hand in every Liverpool goal in their thrilling 5-4 triumph at Eintracht Frankfurt the previous week.Injuries, though, are still hampering the Academy in both major age groups.