David Ornstein confirms Arsenal interest in Liverpool’s Ngumoha

David Ornstein reports for The Athletic that he believes there is some interest from Arsenal in Rio Ngumoha of Liverpool, and he heard over the summer that the Gunners like the young winger.

Ornstein clarifies that this doesn’t mean Liverpool are open to selling. In fact, the youngster’s current club are keen to renew his contract, and there’s no suggestion Ngumoha is unhappy where he is.

Bayern Munich also reportedly did a lot of work on a potential move over the summer, but Liverpool had no interest in selling. Yet the player is into the final two years of his contract, so a decision will need to be made one way or another before too long.

Ornstein’s update follows a recent report from Alan Nixon that Arsenal are watching developments between Liverpool and Ngumoha with growing interest, adding that the Gunners will look to make a move for the player if he doesn’t establish himself on Liverpool’s left-hand side.

18-year-old Ngumoha had established himself in the Liverpool squad last season, and he was getting regular minutes in the second half of the 2025/26 campaign. It looked like things could open up even more with Cody Gakpo’s touted departure to Manchester City or Tottenham Hotspur.

But Liverpool then signed both Bradley Barcola and Victor Munoz for big money, and they held onto Gakpo as well.

Ngumoha has only made one Premier League start in Liverpool’s opening four games, and it was on the right, not his favoured position on the left. He also started on the right in the League Cup against Spurs in midweek.

Ngumoha clearly isn’t nearly as close to a starting role on the left wing as he was at the start of the summer, and if he looks at all unsettled by that, Arsenal are evidently ready to pounce.