RIO Ngumoha has gone from a tiny kid at a Chelsea training centre to the biggest young star in English football.
Ngumoha’s first coach, Terry Bobie-Agyekum, was watching on TV as the teenage winger became Liverpool’s youngest goalscorer and an overnight sensation.
When Ngumoha moved on to Mo Salah’s cross, Bobie-Agyekum was confident what would happen next.
He said: “I knew he was going to put it in.
“Beating his man and shooting are what set him apart.
“It was mindblowing. It gives you goosebumps. It lets you know that dreams can come true.”
Ngumoha’s dreams began in the cages and on the small pitches of East London.
Bobie-Agyekum said: “All credit goes to his older brother James.
“He used to work with him every single day at the Powerleague cages at Beckton.
“Everything he picked up is from working with James.
“Rio was six or seven years old when he came to the Chelsea pre-academy centre in East London, in Barking, where I was coaching.
“He was with us for probably less than a year. He came in late because he’s a late birthday, the end of August.
“What stood out then was his footwork and his willingness to keep going.
“You can’t tell at that age if someone is going to be a top player. You can see potential but the journey is long and crazy.”
Bobie-Agyekum and his fellow coaches saw enough to recommend Chelsea to sign Ngumoha when he was old enough to move to their Cobham HQ at under-nine level.
And a few years later, in 2021, he saw the rapid progress that the youngster had made when fate brought them together again.
Ngumoha was a pupil at Kingsford Community School and was selected to represent the Borough of Newham in the London Youth Games.
The multi-sport competition for kids across the capital counts Olympic legend Mo Farah and another Liverpool winger, Raheem Sterling, among past competitors.
Bobie-Agyekum, who had set up elite grassroots club Levels FC in 2018, was coach of the Newham team for the one-day tournament..
Bobie-Agyekum said: “Every year they ask someone to take the team and because I was involved with Levels, they asked me.
“So me and Rio were reunited for the competition, which was five or six-a-side.
“It was for Year 9 kids but Rio was in Year 8. He had come on leaps and bounds.
“He was so confident. He was arrogant in the best way possible.
“He was a showman. He would change a game, quite easily.
“I’m gutted because back then there were no Veo cameras like we have today to record games.
“Some of the goals he scored were unreal – where the ball ended up, the way he beat players. He was a phenomenal talent, he was the difference for us.”
According to a local newspaper report, Ngumoha scored the first goal as Newham went 2-0 up Havering in the semi finals.
Havering fought back to draw level, before Newham went ahead again with three minutes to go and then Ngumoha sealed victory “with a dazzling run and stupendous finish with just seconds to play.”
Ngumoha scored in the final against Islington, too, as Newham ran out 3-0 winners.
Less than four years later, Ngumoha was marking his Premier League debut with the 100th-minute winner against Newcastle.
Bobie-Agyekum refuses to take any credit for Ngumoha’s rise but is rightly proud of what he and Levels FC have achieved.
Since the club was founded in Barking in 2018, it has won local titles and 80 of its players have signed with academies of top clubs.
Five have gone on to become professionals, including Ayden Heaven, who joined Manchester United from Arsenal in February.
Bobie-Agyekum combines being CEO of Levels with continuing to be area coordinator for Chelsea in East London.
And Josh Acheampong is his biggest success story.
He said: “Josh was my first signing for Chelsea.
“I went to watch a striker. He marked that striker out of the game so I ended up recommending him to Chelsea instead.
“He’s had a quieter journey. He got called up into the first team under Mauricio Pochettino and hasn’t looked back since then.”
Bobie-Agyekum knows that Nguomha’s decision to leave Chelsea for Liverpool last year went down really badly with the Blues.
But contrary to the impression given by the youngster in an interview that he was a Manchester United fan, his old coach says he was always a supporter of their Merseyside rivals.
Bobie-Agyekum said: “Rio’s move was controversial but it happens in football. It’s dog eat dog.
“His brother is brave and Rio is brave. And Rio supports Liverpool so it wasn’t a question.”
After Ngumoha’s heroics against Newcastle, attention turns to Sunday when Liverpool host an Arsenal squad likely to feature another London-born wonderkid.
Max Dowman, 15, became the second youngest Premier League player when he came on for the Gunners and then won a penalty in the 5-0 rout of Leeds.
Dowman and Ngumoha could face off at Anfield this weekend.
Bobie-Agyekum said: “I saw Dowman last year when Southampton Under-18s were winning 3-0 against Arsenal.
“He scored two and brought the game back to 3-3.
“But I think Rio is the better player.”
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