Liverpool Firm on Rio Ngumoha Amid Cody Gakpo Exit Talks
Liverpool have drawn a firm line over Rio Ngumoha. Bayern Munich can look, they can ask, they can admire the teenager from a distance – but this summer, they are being told no.
The 17-year-old winger, signed from Chelsea in 2024, had initially been viewed inside Anfield as a player who might be moved on with a buy-back style option once he had developed in Europe. That was the early thinking. Play him in the under-18s and under-21s, monitor his progress, stay flexible.
That plan has been ripped up.
TEAMtalk’s transfer insider Graeme Bailey reports that Liverpool now have no intention of selling Ngumoha in this window. The club are instead preparing talks over a new contract, a clear sign of how sharply his stock has risen in a matter of months.
The Secret Scout, the well-followed talent-spotting account on X, backed up that shift. Their post on June 5 outlined Liverpool’s change of heart: when Ngumoha arrived, the door was ajar for a potential sale to a European club with an option attached. Then the performances came. Then the view changed.
His displays across the season have forced Liverpool to reassess him not as a trading asset, but as a cornerstone. Internally, the club now see him as one of the best young wingers around, and any conversation over a sale would require what has been described as a “huge” fee. Bayern’s interest is real; Liverpool’s stance is even stronger.
For a club about to enter a new era under Andoni Iraola, keeping hold of elite young talent matters. Ngumoha is no longer a project on the periphery. He is part of the future plan.
Gakpo pushes for exit after Slot sacking
If Ngumoha represents Liverpool’s long-term vision, Cody Gakpo has become a symbol of its turbulence.
According to Dutch outlet Soccer News, the Netherlands international “wishes to leave” Liverpool following the decision by Fenway Sports Group to sack Arne Slot before he had even taken charge and replace him with former Bournemouth boss Iraola. Gakpo had been expected to work under a Dutch coach who knew him, his game, his culture. That prospect has vanished.
Tottenham Hotspur have emerged as serious contenders to take advantage of the situation. The report claims Spurs are working behind the scenes on a plan to convince both the player and Liverpool in the coming weeks. For a club that has been searching for more cutting edge in wide and central attacking areas, Gakpo fits a clear profile: versatile, proven at international level, and still with room to grow.
If he pushes hard for a move, Liverpool and Iraola will have an early flashpoint to handle. One winger staying, another angling to go. The balance of the forward line could shift quickly.
Iraola turns to familiar face Alex Scott
While the Gakpo situation simmers, Liverpool’s recruitment department is already moving in midfield – and Iraola is looking to someone he knows.
Bournemouth’s Alex Scott has emerged as a prime target, with Liverpool considering a £40 million bid, according to journalist Jamie Dickenson. Bournemouth value the 22-year-old significantly higher, at around £60m, after a standout campaign on the south coast.
Scott is currently in Miami with Thomas Tuchel’s England squad and is expected to make his Three Lions debut in a friendly against New Zealand. His rise has been rapid, and his profile is exactly the kind of midfielder Iraola favoured at Bournemouth: technically sharp, brave on the ball, and relentless out of possession.
For Liverpool, he would be more than a familiar face for the incoming manager. He would be a statement that the midfield rebuild is being shaped in Iraola’s image from day one.
They are not alone in admiring him. Manchester United and Tottenham are also keeping tabs, with the added twist that Scott grew up a Spurs supporter. That emotional pull will not be lost on any of the clubs circling.
Diomande interest and the weight of last summer
Liverpool’s ambition is not limited to the middle of the pitch. They are also credited with interest in RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande, rated at around £100m. It is the kind of number that would usually dominate a summer window on its own.
Yet any major outlay now comes with a clear caveat. Iraola will be tasked, as Dickenson notes, with extracting far more from the £415m Liverpool spent last summer on the likes of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and others. Those names underline the scale of recent investment and the expectation that the new head coach must elevate what is already there before he is handed a blank cheque.
That context makes the Ngumoha stance even more telling. When a club with Liverpool’s financial muscle refuses to entertain offers for a 17-year-old and starts talking about “huge” fees, it signals conviction, not caution.
One gifted teenager ring-fenced. One senior attacker eyeing the exit. A trusted midfielder being lined up. A nine-figure winger on the radar.
Liverpool’s next chapter under Iraola is already taking shape. The question now is who will still be standing in the Anfield dressing room when the first ball of the new season is kicked.
