Arne Slot has explained that Liverpool are being cautious with how much training load they put on 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha, with Jayden Danns proving the cautionary tale.
Danns has been sidelined since the end of September with a serious hamstring injury, the latest in a series of unfortunate fitness issue for the 19-year-old.
This Is Anfield understands he was meant to return to parts of training last week but had a small setback, meaning a full return is not expected until February.
Rio Ngumoha & Jayden Danns update
• Managed load: 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha is training “two days off the pitch” per week to prevent growth-related injuries and stress fractures.
• Danns setback: Jayden Danns has suffered a minor setback in his recovery; he is now expected to return to full training in February.
• Cautionary tale: Arne Slot revealed Danns was “overtrained” in his youth, informing the club’s strict protection of Ngumoha’s physical development.
The visit of Barnsley in the FA Cup was widely viewed as a fixture primed for the forward, and Slot has explained why his injury history has influenced how they manage Ngumoha.
When asked if Danns would be an option on Monday evening, Slot explained: “No, not fit enough. Not even training, if I’m correct.
“One of the players that got a stress fracture because he was young and from what I’ve been told, was a bit over trained.
“That’s why we are so careful with Rio Ngumoha. He’s two days a week off the pitch [in training], if that’s possible, to not have that same situation with him.
“But Jayden is definitely not available in the short term.”
Danns has featured once for Liverpool’s first team this season, a 15-minute cameo against Southampton in the League Cup, and you have to go back to January 2025 for his last competitive first-team start.
The reason Ngumoha isn’t playing or training as much
The 17-year-old has not started a Premier League game this season and has featured for only 225 minutes across all competitions, with the winger often left unused on the bench.
It comes after it was emphasised over the summer that a replacement for Luis Diaz was not sought as the club did not want to block his pathway, but Slot has readily overplayed Cody Gakpo instead.
Late last year, though, Slot spoke of his belief that Ngumoha was not being underused, saying: “I think he has the most minutes of all 17-year-olds in the Premier League.
“So that tells you how much playing time he gets, how special that already is for a 17-year-old.
“That also tells you something about his quality, because it’s not completely normal for a 17-year-old already to have as much playing time as he had.
“But it also tells you something about the availability in those areas…if he would be a player in a different position he would probably have even more chance to come in.”
With his training load managed and a close eye on the minutes Ngumoha is handed, Liverpool are understandably cautious of avoiding injuries that have plagued Danns and Stefan Bajcetic.
Liverpool, however, have to balance his risk of overuse for his age against harming his development as he has only played one behind-closed-doors friendly at academy level this season.
They also have to consider their cautiousness with Ngumoha has devoided them of further attacking depth as the resistance to utilise the teenager has seen Gakpo have little competition.
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