Nyoni and Ngumoha displays shows future is bright at Liverpool, says Slot

Arne Slot believes the future is bright at Liverpool after Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni's contributions in their pre-season triumph over Yokohama F. Marinos on Wednesday. 

Slot watched on as a first goal for the Reds from Florian Wirtz, along with strikes from Nyoni and Ngumoha, sealed a 3-1 victory in the final match of their pre-season tour in Asia. 

It has been a productive pre-season for Ngumoha, who made his only competitive appearance for Liverpool in their FA Cup third-round win over Arrington Stanley in January.

The 16-year-old took his goal brilliantly against Yokohama, brilliantly skipping beyond two challenges before picking out the bottom right-hand corner.

And while Slot praised the performances of both Ngumoha and Nyoni, he believes the former still has a lot to learn should he want regular gametime next season. 

"Like I said, he wasn't the only one that impacted the game from the bench because Trey Nyoni, also a youngster, scored [and was] assisted by Jeremie Frimpong," Slot said.

"In the first goal, I think Curtis Jones played a big part by winning the ball in the midfield.

"Rio again showed the quality he has and that's nice for us because we have a lot of very good players.

"But to get some very good players through the academy is always helpful and always gives energy to a team as well.

"It's always nice to see young players from 16, 17 or 18 years old already impacting a game.

"There was also a moment in the game where he [Ngumoha] should have squared it to Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] or Curtis. So, [there were] also learning parts for him.

"If you are 16 and you can impact the game like he did, that's definitely worth a compliment."

Slot was also on hand to discuss the news of Luis Diaz's departure from Anfield, with the Colombia international completing a €75m (£65.6m) switch to Bayern Munich. 

Diaz registered 13 goals and five assists in the Premier League last season, as Liverpool captured their 20th top-flight title in their first campaign under Slot.

He scored 29 goals and registered 15 assists in the Premier League following his move from Porto in 2022, ranking second for direct goal involvements (44) among all Liverpool players in that time, behind only Mohamed Salah (117).

"First of all for the person he was, because he always had a smile on his face no matter what, in the year that I've worked with him. "I played him a lot so then maybe it's a little bit more normal to have a smile on your face," Slot added. 

"But even when I didn't play him, he always came out for every training session and gave everything, with a smile on his face.

"Apart from that, I'm going to miss his song a lot because it was maybe one of the best songs our fans have for a player.

"And of course, all that he contributed to us winning the league.

"But this is also who we are as a club. We are making big signings, we have done that over the past few years. But this club also needs to recoup funds to get these transfers that we already did over the line.

"It has been a summer where we've spent a lot but I think if people look at all the money we've already brought in, that's also – like last year when we almost only sold players – a good thing for this club as well."