CHELSEA are set to lose a talented academy product dubbed “the next Musiala” according to reports.
Rio Ngumoha, 15, is set to join Liverpool after they broke their historic wage structure to bring him in.
Ngumoha has been compared to two former Chelsea academy products, Musiala and Michael Olise for his talent at a young age.
Chelsea lost Musiala to Bayern Munich in 2019, and he has gone on to prove himself as one of the world’s finest talents.
Olise was also lost by Chelsea to Manchester City‘s academy in 2016, he went on to play professionally for Reading and Crystal Palace before completing £49.5million move to Bayern Munich yesterday.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Ngumoha is seen as such a special talent that Liverpool are willing to break their academy wage structure which has remained in place for years.
He says a deal will be completed for the 15-year-old soon.
Under their previous structure, which will be broken with the transfer of Ngumoha, academy players’ earnings were capped at £50,000-a-year.
The cap is part of a larger set of rules that will remain in place.
Players are also limited to a ‘car clause’ which means they can not own a vehicle over 1.3 litres.
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Players at the academy are also required to hand in their phones at 8:30am and are only given back at the end of the day.
Explaining the rules, academy director Alex Inglethorpe told Jamie Carragher for the Telegraph: “It is a safety thing as much as anything.
ENZO MARESCA is considered among the most exciting young coaches on the planet.
Born in Italy in 1980, he managed to guide Leicester to the Championship title in his first season as Foxes boss.
His management career started at Italian minnows Ascoli before he was snapped up by Man City in 2020 to manage their Elite Development Squad.
He guided the youth team to the Premier League 2 title in his one season working for the Citizens – with Cole Palmer in the side.
His first senior job was with Parma but he was sacked after just a few months after failing to impress.
Despite the team playing in Serie B and Maresca having an impressive squad he was unable to get them on course for promotion.
He returned to Man City and worked as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants for the 2022/23 season as they won the Treble.
He took over relegated Leicester last summer and made an immediate impact, with the Foxes winning the Championship title.
Maresca showed his dedication to the job by living at the training ground for the first two months after his appointment.
He’s considered something of a Pep disciple and has said: “For a coach, it’s important to have the mentality of a chess player.”
During his playing career he played under Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi – and alongside ex-Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi.
“I don’t want boys who have just passed their test with these big chunks of metal, but I was also fed up seeing a car park full of Range Rovers.
“If anyone turns up with one of them, they are parking it next door.
“We have a pay structure which is fairly old-fashioned. We give them jobs to do. We tell them to hand their phone over at 8.30am and give them back before they go home.
“You have been a senior player. You know how it is when a young player comes into the dressing room. You want respect for the pathway.
“They have to earn what comes their way first. All the other stuff is fine later. To get there you have to do it on the pitch.”
Ngumoha is a talented left winger who made nine appearances for Chelsea’s U-18 side last season, despite only turning 16 later this month.
The player has also featured several times for England‘s U-16 side.
During those appearances, he contributed one goal and one assist.
Liverpool have a good track record of bedding academy products into the first-team in recent years.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones are first-team regulars, with Conor Bradley also playing extensively in the first-team last season.
