Bayern won’t sign Rio Ngumoha after missing their chance in the summer – opinion

Bayern Munich feel a deal can be done for Rio Ngumoha

Bayern chief Max Eberl smiles. — Bayern’s head of sport, Max Eberl – (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

Whether Liverpool feel the same way… well, let’s just be clear on this: they don’t.

As Mick Brown noted in his latest report with Football Insider: “From what I hear, Bayern Munich are pretty confident there is a deal to be done.

“When there’s all this talk about making contact with his agents, speaking to the player, what it might cost, that stuff doesn’t happen unless they think they can do a deal.

“Whether Liverpool feel the same way, I have my doubts, because he has such obvious potential and Andoni Iraola has been pretty clear he is part of his plans.

“I don’t think he’s the finished article, but not many players are at 18, there are still areas of his game where he has to improve, so maybe that’s where the speculation comes from.”

Mick goes on to note that the Reds are currently giving Ngumoha everything he could realistically hope for at an elite European outfit. There is a pathway to the senior team and he’s already picked up 642 minutes (Transfermarkt) of action in the famous red shirt this season.

On top of that, his all-round game is being carefully developed, with appearances roughly split between both flanks.

And most importantly? Liverpool aren’t burning the player out — Andoni Iraola is managing the teenager’s minutes, rotating alongside Bradley Barcola, Victor Munoz and Cody Gakpo.

So, Bayern may feel a deal can be done, but realistically, can they offer the 18-year-old substantially more than he’s already receiving at Liverpool?

Far more likely that Bayern look in a different direction

Liverpool attacker Rio Ngumoha holds his phone. — (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

It’s worth pointing out that, as is indeed the case across Europe’s biggest outfits, Bayern’s shortlist is far from limited to Liverpool’s No.73. Names like Antonio Nusa and Oskar Pietuszewski are also highly rated by the club, with the former thought to be well-admired by Bayern chief Max Eberl.

But the important distinction to make here is that Ngumoha will not come cheap – far from it, compared to the two names alone we’ve just listed. And if Bayern already valued the versatile winger at €70m [£58.3m] in the summer, can you imagine how much his value has skyrocketed since becoming an important part of Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool squad? We’re surely talking in the territory of at least upwards of £7om, at a conservative estimate.

On that basis, options like Pietuszewski – who reportedly has a €60m [£50.1m] release clause at FC Porto – surely start to look more feasible for a club like Bayern that doesn’t necessarily have the same level of cash to splash as its Premier League counterparts.