Rio Ngumoha is now taking the Champions League by storm, underlining Julian Ward's biggest priority at Liverpool, but a previous saga with Mohamed Salah should give fans confidence

Get used to hearing Duran Duran at Anfield a lot more often - it’s hopefully going to become a regular occurrence.

There was really no other choice after Tuesday’s win over Villarreal. Alexis Mac Allister, Ronald Araujo and Florian Wirtz might have had their names next to the goals in the 4-3 win, but the comeback had Rio Ngumoha’s stamp all over it.

The teenager was simply electric, even during a first half in which the rest of his teammates looked as though they had forgotten there was actually a game on. He was fully deserving of his player of the match award, which even by UEFA’s at-times baffling decision-making must have been the easiest choice to make.

Questions have been asked since the summer whether shifting Ngumoha to the right would actually work - Tuesday felt like categorical evidence that he can. He’s now taken the Premier League and Champions League by storm, and he looks well on the way to doing the same on the international stage.

It’s incredible to think he’s still only 18 - and that makes it even more important that Liverpool gets him tied down.

He is under contract until 2028, but that’s not enough, not with the likes of Bayern Munich sniffing around. It was already right at the top of the list for returning sporting director Julian Ward, but a new deal has just become even more important.

“I hope he signs, yes, because right now we’ve got a lot of wingers in the team, but he’s performing. He’s the best winger Liverpool have got right now,” club legend Jamie Carragher said after Ngumoha’s performance against Villarreal.

“Liverpool have a problem position on the right wing. They’ve got a lot of left wingers. Rio might be better on the left, but he was outstanding on the right tonight, so he’s saving the manager a problem.”

Liverpool is already underway in its efforts to get Ngumoha to commit his long-term future to the Reds - they were limited to how long they could get him to sign for when he turned 17 last year, but now the door is well and truly open for an extended stay.

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Of course, when you’re attracting as much attention as Ngumoha is at such a young age, that could have the potential to make things trickier. We’ve already gone through a summer in which there was speculation that one of Europe’s other giants might be lining up to poach him, and after Tuesday’s performance, Bayern might not be the only ones keeping a close eye.

In Ward though, Liverpool has someone who has shown he can get the big deals over the line.

Richard Hughes’ predecessor and now successor was the man who managed to get Mohamed Salah to sign a new three-year contract back in 2022 after a long saga which has supporters more than a little worried.

Ward, alongside FSG president Mike Gordon, led the discussions with Salah’s agent Ramy Abbas, holding face-to-face discussions with him in Miami while also overseeing an overhaul in Liverpool’s attacking quarters that year.

After a lengthy process, the deal was eventually struck, leading to the famous picture of Ward looking over Salah’s shoulder as he signed his new contract while on holiday.

A new deal for Ngumoha will of course be much more different, with nothing like the sort of figures involved to tie down Salah, and Liverpool will no doubt be looking for a much longer commitment from the teenager.

Nevertheless, Ward’s experience in getting such an important deal done should leave supporters more confident that he can also convince Ngumoha to put pen to paper. Time will tell, but Ward’s biggest priority is now clearer than ever.