‘Outstanding’ Liverpool star tipped to win the Ballon d’Or

‘Outstanding’ Liverpool star tipped to win the Ballon d’Or Liverpool Forward Tipped To Win The Ballon d’Or In The Future The Ballon d’Or has been a hot topic lately, enhanced by the victory of England striker Harry Kane just a couple of weeks ago. Kane became the first English player to win the award since then-Liverpool forward Michael Owen back in 2001. As always, it has raised further debate about who could be the next challengers. Of course, world-class talents like Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe are expected to dominate the next few years. However, who could lead the next generation? Rio Ngumoha Tipped To Challenge For Ballon d’or 18-year-old Rio Ngumoha has set English football alight since joining Liverpool from Chelsea as a 15-year-old. Whilst on international duty, former Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah and Arsenal defender Ben White were asked which young players could win the prestigious award. Speaking to BBC 5 Live Sport on TikTok , Quansah said: “I don’t want to put anyone too high like that but the outstanding talent is Rio Ngumoha.” “I trained with him at Liverpool a lot. He was very young when he came to Liverpool but he’s so sharp, so quick and I think it’s the first thing most lads said when he came here.” “He’s so brave in his 1v1 and he is definitely someone who has potential to be on that level.” Of course it’s early days in Ngumoha’s career, but there’s no doubting his natural ability. He is going to go a long, long way. Photo: IMAGO Saka and Dowman Also Mentioned Arsenal defender Ben White also had his say on the topic. He said: “Is Bukayo [Saka] young? How old is he? 25? That’s probably not young in football terms.” “But just playing with him every week it’s something new that you see from him. What he does, yeah, it’s amazing.” “I don’t think you see anyone with the same mentality as him.” No doubt eyebrows will be raised over the mention of Bukayo Saka, who has had a quiet season so far for the Gunners. Teenage sensation Max Dowman was also mentioned by White, who was strong on his praise for the youngster: “I’d probably say Max Dowman.” “Obviously he is doing what he’s doing at Arsenal and it’s unheard of so I’d probably put money on him.” “He’s got so much talent. It’s crazy. I can only imagine what he is going to be like when he is 20 or 21.” Looking Ahead I think everyone is expecting both Ngumoha and Dowman to dominate English football over the next decade or so. It’ll be fascinating to see whether they can make that step up to dominate world football. It’s early days, but they both certainly have the ingredients to reach world-class levels.