Liverpool have signed 17-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha, the Newham-born player, on his first professional contract, a month after his 17th birthday and around a year after arriving from Chelsea. The deal runs for three years. The winger’s match-winning goal at Newcastle in August made him Liverpool’s youngest scorer at 16 years and 361 days.

Ngumoha has made five senior appearances. He debuted in the FA Cup third-round tie against Accrington at Anfield in January, and after impressing in pre-season he became a permanent member of head coach Arne Slot’s first-team squad. On his Premier League debut, he scored the late winner at St James’ Park in the 10th minute of added time. A substitute appearance in the Champions League win over Atletico Madrid made him the club’s youngest player in European competition.

Chelsea were reported to have objected to Liverpool’s capture of a player who had been with them since the age of eight, with suggestions that Chelsea scouts were barred from watching academy matches. It is understood Ngumoha left Chelsea believing Liverpool offered a clearer pathway to first-team football, a decision that now appears vindicated. Off the field, Liverpool announced a record 1,114 lifetime bans for ticket touting, with almost half linked to mass manipulation of software last season. Investigators also shut down 162 social media groups with more than one million members combined, tied to selling fake tickets or reselling real tickets, and closed 45,000 fake ticketing accounts.