Rio Ngumoha responds as Liverpool teammate officially confirms exit in statement

Rio Ngumoha has responded to an emotional statement on social media as Liverpool wave goodbye to one of their young players

Liverpool forward Rio Ngumoha has responded to James Balagizi's emotional exit statement on social media. The midfielder progressed through the various age grades in Liverpool's academy.

However, the 22-year-old never made an official first-team appearance. The closest he came was two matches as an unused substitute under Jurgen Klopp in the 2021/22 season.

The youngster had loan spells at Crawley Town, Wigan Athletic, Kilmarnock, and, most recently, Forest Green Rovers. However, three of those were cut short mid-season, with Balagizi struggling to gain the stability needed for his career to properly take off.

Now, he has penned an emotional exit statement on his Instagram account, thanking his boyhood club for everything they have done for him.

FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page

He said: "From 11 to 22, it’s been an honour to represent this special club throughout a large part of my life. I’m so grateful and fortunate for all of the experiences I’ve had over the years.

"A massive thank you to everyone who has been on this journey alongside me — teammates, coaches and staff. This is a period I’ll always look back on fondly, with many ups, downs and lessons learned.

"Hopefully, I can use all of these experiences to help shape the rest of my professional career. I’d also like to thank everyone who has supported me in any capacity. YNWA"

Of those to respond in the comments section were Ngumoha, who simply replied with two love heart emojis.

Crawley boss Kevin Betsy, who worked with the young star at international level having coached England between the age groups of under-15 and U18, previously spoke about how his team were fortunate to acquire a player of such talent.

"I've known James a long time, I worked with him with England when he was 15, so I know the family," he said in 2022.

"These are the things when your connections are able to bring a player like him to the football club. We had no right really to be signing a player of his quality. In the number 10, he was phenomenal. He is growing from strength to strength each game.

"But the relationship that we have and the trust Liverpool have in us as coaches to give their players to us and allow them to flourish and progress speaks volumes for what we know we can do with young players.

"James, hopefully he's going to have a fantastic career going forward, and this is the early steps of understanding men's football and he's doing a really good job."

Click here to read article