Rio Ngumoha reveals what Mohamed Salah told him before leaving Liverpool

· Mirror

Liverpool star Rio Ngumoha could make his third appearance for England against Croatia on Saturday evening and will hope to harness some valuable advice from former teammate Mohamed Salah

Rio Ngumoha has praised Mohamed Salah for help at Liverpool ahead of a potential full England debut. The Reds wonderkid was a surprise inclusion in Thomas Tuchel's England squad ahead of the World Cup.

He retained his place in the selection for the first international break of the campaign and was afforded a brief cameo against Czechia in Prague. Ngumoha could yet earn his first start in upcoming games against Croatia and the second game against Czechia.

And he will hope to harness advice from Liverpool hero Salah, who told the youngster to prioritise his end product before departing Anfield. Speaking to The FA, he said: "The player who I probably learned the most from is Mohamed Salah, when he was at Liverpool.

> "He taught me a lot, especially towards the back end when he knew he was leaving. He helped me a lot.

> "Like he always says about looking at his numbers and he was always telling me: 'Rio, you know you're a good player but to reach the top, you have to add the goals and assists'.

> "And it will come naturally but he was just going through little things like that [with me]. When he first started [talking to me], it was like: 'Wow! I've been watching you since I was young and you're telling me how to [improve]. Like, you're helping me and you're guiding me.'

> "But then over time, I saw him as a very good team-mate and he was helping me a lot, so I can thank him much more."

On his fledgling England career, Ngumoha added: "I definitely had the confidence to believe I could wear the England shirt at 18.

> "Did I think it'd be the first camp? Maybe not. But I definitely knew that I'd be playing one day when I was still pretty young.

> "I was ready to go [when coming on], Once I knew I was coming on, I just had the hunger, the fight, the belief.

> "And once I was on the pitch, it was like any game of football really. I think, you know, Jude is 23 and is already probably the best midfielder in the world at this point.

> "And he definitely believed that he would play in an England shirt at 17, same as Wayne Rooney, what he did for his club, his country, hopefully I can do the same. It's going to be a good journey I think, yes."

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