'Excellent prospect' Ngumoha stars for Liverpool - but who is he?

Liverpool's big summer signings made their Anfield bows - but it was 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha who stole the show despite not playing in the same game as them.

The Reds played an unusual double header against the Basque club, with - loosely speaking - their second XIs meeting at 17:00BST and their first teams facing off at 20:00.

England Under-17 forward Ngumoha started the first game - and had a goal and assist to his name in the opening five minutes.

It ended 4-1 with Darwin Nunez, Ben Doak and Harvey Elliott also on the scoresheet.

Later on in the first-team game, Arne Slot fielded £263.5m worth of summer signings.

They were midfielder Florian Wirtz, forward Hugo Ekitike, full-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili - whose deal has gone through a year after it was agreed.

But it was Cody Gakpo who probably earned the headlines - scoring twice in the right net, and once in his own goal, as Liverpool won 3-2. Mohamed Salah netted the opener and later skied a penalty.

Ngumoha, who turns 17 later this month, shone again in pre-season to get fans wondering if he could be part of the first team this year.

The second youngest Liverpool player in a competitive game ever started this friendly on the left wing - and he caught the eye as he has done all summer.

The teenager scored in just the second minute as he ran onto a loose ball in his own half before racing forward and curling a fine effort in from 20 yards out.

Just three minutes later he nodded a Doak cross down for Darwin Nunez to convert from close range.

Liverpool fans were singing his name as Curtis Jones urged them to show their appreciation.

And he caused the La Liga side all kinds of problems with his dribbling and trickery.

The 16-year-old left to a standing ovation midway through the second half.

"He is such an excellent prospect," said ex-Reds defender Gary Gillespie on LFC TV.

"The difficult is managing expectations but it's hard to put a lid on it."

Ngumoha's performance came on the back of an assist against AC Milan and goal against Yokohama F. Marinos in Asian friendlies.

He looks a fine talent, if raw, and will be hoping more first-team competitive games are on the way.

In January, Ngumoha became the youngest player to start a match for Liverpool - aged 16 years and 135 days old - in the 4-0 win over Accrington in the FA Cup.

But that was his only first-team appearance and he never made the bench for a Premier League game.

That could well change this season, especially with so many changes in the Liverpool front line.

The sad death of centre forward Diogo Jota in a car crash has been the main focus of Liverpool's pre-season. There were tributes to him before and during the game at Anfield.

Winger Luis Diaz was sold to Bayern Munich and Nunez is a target for Saudi Pro League clubs.

An exit for Nunez would mean the Reds' only really strong frontline options would be Salah, new signing Ekitike and Gakpo - giving a chance for somebody like Ngumoha to break through.

That is unless they managed to sign Newcastle striker Alexander Isak. An initial bid of £110m has been rejected.

"I'm not trying to rush because I'm still only young," said Ngumoha last week.

"But at the same time, I just want to show the manager what I can do and not get too complacent. I just want to do bigger and better things for me and the club."

Ngumoha is not actually a Liverpool academy product, having only joined Liverpool from Chelsea's youth set-up last summer.

At the time Blues legend John Terry wrote "this boy is and will be a top player".

He's not looking wrong.

Slot managed the remarkable achievement of winning the Premier League title in his first season despite barely making a signing - only fringe player Federico Chiesa arrived.

But now he is building a team of his own. And the signs are promising in a fluid looking 4-2-3-1.

The £100m Germany midfielder Wirtz shown some exciting flashes in the first half with some great touches - and went close to scoring on a few occasions.

At right-back Frimpong had similarities to his predecessor Trent Alexander-Arnold, now at Real Madrid - better at attacking than defending.

The Dutchman got up and down the flank well at Anfield here - although did not deal with a free-kick into the box which led to Oihan Sancet's equaliser.

Ex-Bournemouth left-back Kerkez looked good. Ekitike was lively and ran to the byeline before setting up Salah's opener.

The Frenchman almost netted his first Anfield goal but Gakpo took the ball off his foot to score his second of the game.

Well his third including the accidental header into his own net from a Maroan Sannadi flick-on.

A concern remains at centre-back. With Virgil van Dijk out through illness and Joe Gomez injured, midfielder Wataro Endo had to start at the back alongside Ibrahima Konate.

After that the choices are other players out of position or youngsters. Or both. In the first game, 18-year-old midfielder Trey Nyoni had to play there.