Earlier today, transfer chatter out of Germany emerged linking 17-year-old rising star Liverpool winger Rio Ngumoha with a move to Bayern Munich, with Sky Germany’s Bayern mouthpiece Florian Plettenberg claiming an exclusive that cast Ngumoha as a priority wing target and going on to suggest personal terms had been lined up with the player.
This appears to have comeas a surpriseto Liverpool, and while it does appear Bayern may have registered interest in the player with his agents, that interest does not appear to have reached a level where they would have had discussions with Liverpool about him. Also, if Bayern were to reach out, Liverpool wouldn’t be inclined to consider a sale.
Beyond Ngumoha’s obvious talents and upside and that he will end having additional value to Liverpool as a homegrown, club trained player, he is currently one of two first team wingers on the books and the priority this summer is strengthening that position. The real priority will be to line up a new deal for him when he turns 18 at the end of August.
Ngumoha is currently on a three-year deal signed last summer, the longest contract that can be signed as a youth player. When he does turn 18 in a little less than two months he will be free to sign a longer one. If one were to engage in speculation, there would seem a decent chance that any talk of Bayern interest best serves the player’s agents ahead of that.
Bayern’s interest seems to be far more preliminary than the early chatter suggested, but even a glimmer of such would provide valuable ammunition if the sides are beginning to lay foundations for a new longer-term contract for Ngumoha to potentially sign later this summer, and short of any significant developments that seems likely to be what’s going on.