Ngumoha to leave England squad having made mark

Liverpool's teenage forward Rio Ngumoha will leave the England camp this week after making a major impression on Thomas Tuchel and his international team-mates.

The 17-year-old, who is not in England's 26-man squad, was named man-of-the-match for his debut performance as a second-half substitute in Saturday's 1-0 World Cup warm-up win over New Zealand.

England play their final pre-tournament friendly on Wednesday against Costa Rica and it will be interesting to see if Tuchel again selects Ngumoha.

The England manager will have a full squad to choose from following the arrivals of Arsenal quartet Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke.

But while the starting line-up against Costa Rica is expected to be closer to the side that will play the opening World Cup match against Croatia on Wednesday, 17 June, it is unlikely the Arsenal players will start.

So, could Ngumoha be given another chance before he and England go their separate ways?

The main squad will travel to their World Cup base in Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday, after they have played a behind-closed-doors training game against local team Miami United.

Ngumoha will go on holiday before returning to the US next month for Liverpool's pre-season tour.

The Liverpool attacker was one of five supplementary England players taken to the pre-tournament camp in Florida, with the Arsenal players among those arriving later having been in the Champions League final.

Ngumoha was only meant to participate in training, however, Tuchel has been so impressed he felt compelled to play him during the first warm-up match - a surprise decision that was vindicated.

That performance had led to assertions that Ngumoha should have been in Tuchel's thinking before now, either included in the final 26, or first in-line for a call-up should a player be injured before the tournament starts.

However, because Ngumoha was not included in Tuchel's initial 55-man squad for the tournament he cannot be drafted in as an injury replacement.

Speaking in March, Tuchel refused to rule out selecting the teenager for the tournament – so to then not pick him in the expanded 55-man pool does seem confusing.

Ultimately, the German was working with such a small and condensed body of work when it came to Ngumoha.

The London-born forward made history as Liverpool's youngest scorer when, aged 16, he scored the decisive goal in the 100th minute to beat Newcastle 3-2 – but made just 10 senior starts last season.

It is understood there was some dissatisfaction over his level of game time under former Liverpool manager Arne Slot.

So had he played more, could he have forced his way into Tuchel's plans?

Slot, and Liverpool, would argue that they were merely protecting him from the physical and psychological rigours of senior football. It was, after all, the teenager's first full season of playing in the Premier League and Champions League.

A number of clubs throughout Europe have sensed an opportunity to prize Ngumoha away from Anfield this summer, as reported by BBC Sport last week. Bayern Munich are one of those clubs.

Liverpool, though, are adamant they will not sell him this summer and Bayern do have other candidates on their shortlist.

If Ngumoha had frustrations over game time last season they may well be placated by the departure of Reds legend Mohamed Salah, plus the arrival of Slot's replacement Andoni Iraola.

The former Bournemouth manager has shown a willingness to rely on young players with Eli Junior Kroupi, Rayan and Dean Hujisen, all proof of the Spaniard's faith in youth.

Liverpool are determined to ensure he will be making the same impression he has made on his international manager with his new club boss in July.

Ngumoha has been long since viewed as one of English football's brightest prospects and he will be confident of linking up with Tuchel again when England begin their Uefa Nations League campaign in September.