Darwin Nunes continued to corner towards the Liverpool exit door, leaving him with a previous season of goal-rich red preparations.
However, the Uruguirons started once in the Premier League after Boxing Day last season, scoring just seven goals in 47 matches in all competitions. Given that he won a brace against Brentford, the 25-year-old blanked 41 times under the wing of Arne Slot last year.
So, Liverpool will have to sign a new striker even if they buy a Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt for the initial £609 million fee.
Given that Louis Diaz was sold to Bayern Munich for £65.5 million last month, you might think the new electric-paced left winger is at the top of the agenda of sports director Richard Hughes.
But Rio ngumoha may have changed that story.
Liverpool’s latest genius
The stars are born. Ngumoha can’t be denied now. This is a promising player with the potential to go to the top.
But let’s park our excitement for a moment. Ngumoha is 16 years old after all and needs to drip into life on the professional circuit.
Still, his goal and assisting performance against Athletic Bilbao on Monday afternoon was Anfield’s debut. Although friendly, the attacking midfielder played the ball with such fun and smoothness, walked forward and unleashed a confident loop strike from outside the area, gaining attention.
Isn’t it strange that he is described as a “special” talent by journalist Bens Boxsack?
Slot is keen to soothe the noise of mounting around his name, but it’s hard to believe that Liverpool has produced a custom built Diaz alternative.
Nguomha’s ball carry ability and target contribution ability in all shapes and sizes suggest that he can form a dangerous partnership with Ekitike in the coming years, but the same thing is interested in signing the same summer with another centre forward Liverpool.
Liverpool line up another striker
No, not Alexander Isaac, where we are here. The Newcastle United Number Nine is a Liverpool dream target, but Magpies play hardball and may not even find a suitable alternative.
Thus, catching offside revealed that Liverpool took part in the race for Paris Saint-Germain forward Goncaro Ramos, who lost favour in the Louis Enrique system.
PSG wants to reclaim something in the 65 million euro (£56 million) ballpark for the 24-year-old Portugal International.
Liverpool wants to sign Isaac more than anything else, but Ramos is barely a fallback, and he also wants Aston Villa, Manchester United, Juventus and Naples.
What Goncaro Ramos brings to Liverpool
Ramos cut his hometown teeth in Benfica before signing PSG on a 80 million euro (£70 million) contract in 2023, behind the 2022 Breakout World Cup campaign in Qatar.
The Iberian forward has only scored 33 goals in 86 games for the French Giants, but has supported eight goals, but has not been featured as a starman who started 10 League One fixtures in 2024/25. Still, he scored 10 times.
And the underlying data is also in his advantage. According to FBREF, Ramos was ranked in the top 4% of the top five leagues in Europe last season, top 11% of assists, top 9% of pass completions and top 2% of touches on the offensive box per 90.
The steady rate of prolific performance throughout Ramos’ senior career so far suggests that slots can be shaped into one of the world’s most important advances and prove the perfect long-term dance partner for promising talents like Nugumoha.
Goncaro Ramos – Past career statistics (all comps) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
season | App | the goal | assist |
24/25 -psg | 46 | 19 | 6 |
23/24 -psg | 40 | 14 | 2 |
22/23-Benfica | 47 | 27 | 8 |
21/22-Benfica | 46 | 8 | 4 |
20/21-Benfica | 12 | 4 | – |
19/20-Benfica | 1 | 2 | – |
Data via the transfer market | |||
Helmeted as a “outrageous” player by Talent Scout Jacek Kulig, Ramos’ wide-ranging offensive instruments acknowledge his suitability in Liverpool’s slot system. He suggests that he can work across a variety of roles for a coach who is fast, powerful, light-hearted, willing to be fluid in his role.
However, if Ngumoha can develop rapidly, it is unlikely that the slot will try to convert the right footer to the left forward.
Plus, Ekitike has actually already signed on, bringing a more refined and vast game to the Premier League as a frontman. In any case, the French are the average and still improving scorers themselves, and therefore tend to stay quickly in slot machines.
However, Ramos brings icing on top of the cake, ensuring Liverpool has enough firepower to compete across multiple fronts this season.
FBREF certainly has acquired the right skill set as both Isak and Ekitike are statistically comparable players to the PSG star.
And there’s no reason why these two stars weren’t able to hit a fascinating partnership in the coming years, as Ngumoha is already rolling out the waves within Liverpool’s first team.
