JOHN TERRY admits he was “gutted’ when Rio Ngumoha left Chelsea — and compared Liverpool’s new wonderkid to a Blues icon.
Rio Ngumoha, at 16 years and 361 days old, became Liverpool’s youngest-ever goalscorer after firing home a dramatic 100th-minute winner against Newcastle on Monday night.
Born and raised in Newham, Ngumoha joined Chelsea’s academy at just 8 years old, after previously visiting Arsenal and West Ham.
But last summer, the starlet swapped London blue for Merseyside red
Chelsea chiefs were left furious and even reportedly BANNED Liverpool scouts from attending youth matches.
Stamford Bridge legend Terry was Ngumoha’s under-14s coach at Cobham and knows first-hand just how good the starlet could be.
And JT revealed he is still in touch with Ngumoha, despite his move to Merseyside.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, Terry said: “He is a very ambitious boy who wanted to play first-team football and believed that was his pathway into Liverpool’s first team.
“I’m still in contact with him, but he’s just a fantastic player.
“There’s going to be many more over the years that as an academy you lose, but there’s always one that you think, ‘I’m a bit gutted we missed out on that one’.”
Terry, 44, has been back at Chelsea for a couple of years as a mentor to players at the club’s academy and knew Ngumoha was something special.
And Terry has even seen glimpses of two iconic former team-mates when watching the youngster in action.
He added: “We had a really good under-14 team and he was a big part of that.
“You don’t see too many players that are exciting like him anymore.
“There’s going to be many more over the years that as an academy you lose, but there’s always one that you think, a bit gutted we missed out on that one.”
“He was a very confident player, taking the ball on the back foot, lots of personality, very confident in himself.”
“Since the likes of [Eden] Hazard and Joe Cole and those types of players that are very confident and get the fans off their seat as well… I think football’s become a little bit stale and a little bit kind of tactical over the last four or five years.”
There’s always one that you think, ‘I’m a bit gutted we missed out on that one’
John Terry
“But he showed that ability in the academy and unfortunately we’ve lost him.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on the boy, and I wish him well because he’s a great player.
“He’s also a great little kid as well, someone who wants to learn and wants to get better.”
Following his wondergoal, Ngumoha said: “I’m buzzing, I’m so happy to score, especially the winner. What a good moment. Special feeling.”
“He just looked at me, pointed at me, just like ‘quickly, get ready.’ You just have to come on and make an impact. Thank God I did that.”
“Normally, coaches are saying ‘make the back post.’ So the fact I was able to make the back post was crazy.”
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