Liverpool Firm on Ngumoha Sale Amid Gakpo Uncertainty
Liverpool have drawn a firm line in this summer’s market over Rio Ngumoha – just as another winger, Cody Gakpo, edges towards the exit.
Liverpool slam door on Ngumoha sale
Bayern Munich thought they had spotted an opening. The German champions are hunting a new left-winger and identified 17-year-old Ngumoha as a prime target, sensing Liverpool might be willing to talk.
They were. Once.
When Liverpool brought the former Chelsea youngster in earlier this year, there was an openness to a future sale to a European club with a buy-back style option attached, with Ngumoha expected to split his time between the U18s and U21s.
That idea has been ripped up.
TEAMtalk’s Graeme Bailey reports that Liverpool now have “no plans whatsoever” to sell the teenager this summer. The club intend to sit down with Ngumoha and his camp to discuss a new contract, a move that underlines just how quickly his stock has risen inside Anfield.
The Secret Scout account on X, which has charted Ngumoha’s rise and has 255,000 followers, detailed the internal shift on June 5 at 8:19pm, explaining that Liverpool were originally open to a European move with an option. His performances have changed everything.
The message from inside the club now is stark: it would take a “huge” fee for Liverpool to even think about it. Ngumoha is viewed as “one of the best wingers in the world” in terms of potential. Bayern may admire him, but Liverpool have decided he is one they build around, not cash in on.
Gakpo unsettled as Spurs circle
If Ngumoha represents the future, Gakpo suddenly looks like a fault line in the present.
According to Dutch outlet Soccer News, the Netherlands international “wishes to leave” Liverpool after a seismic change in the dugout. Fenway Sports Group’s decision to sack Arne Slot before he had even taken charge and move instead for Andoni Iraola has jolted the winger’s plans.
Into that uncertainty steps Tottenham Hotspur. The report claims Spurs hold “serious interest” in Gakpo and are already working behind the scenes on a strategy to convince both the player and Liverpool in the coming weeks.
For a club that has invested heavily in attacking depth, losing a versatile forward of Gakpo’s profile would be a significant call. Yet the combination of a managerial reset and a concrete suitor in the Premier League keeps the situation live.
Iraola eyes Alex Scott reunion
While one winger’s future hangs in the balance, Liverpool’s midfield is being quietly redrawn on the whiteboard.
Andoni Iraola, set to take over on a two-year contract, wants fresh energy in the centre of the pitch and has turned to a familiar face. Bournemouth’s Alex Scott is firmly on the radar, with Liverpool considering a £40m bid, according to journalist Jamie Dickenson on X at 5:35am on June 5.
Bournemouth value the 22-year-old at around £60m. Scott, currently in Miami with Thomas Tuchel’s England squad, has just come off a standout season on the south coast and is poised to make his Three Lions debut in a friendly against New Zealand on Saturday.
For Iraola, Scott would be more than a marquee first signing. He would be a tactical anchor, a player the Spaniard knows intimately from their time together at Bournemouth and trusts to interpret his demands in the most important part of the pitch.
Liverpool are not alone in that assessment. Manchester United are monitoring the situation, while Tottenham – the club Scott supported as a boy – are also keeping tabs. Any move will be a test of how hard Liverpool are prepared to push to back their new manager.
Big numbers, bigger expectations
Liverpool’s recruitment team are also tracking RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande at around £100m, a figure that underlines the scale of their ambitions in wide areas even as they protect Ngumoha from predators.
Yet there is a clear internal challenge for Iraola: extract maximum value from the club’s enormous recent outlay. Last summer’s £415m spree on the likes of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and others still looms large over any new deal.
Keep Ngumoha. Decide on Gakpo. Fight for Scott. Judge Diomande’s price. And do it all while proving that last year’s investment can still be shaped into a title-chasing team.
Liverpool’s summer is no longer just about who they sign. It is about who they dare to let go.
