Liverpool owe potential £12m payment to Chelsea, could be far more

Liverpool are on course to owe a lot of money to Chelsea. The payment could far exceed £12m if it's triggered.

Liverpool had the chance to agree a £60m transfer in the summer but in the end, they didn't even entertain it. Rio Ngumoha was wanted by Bayern Munich and the German giants put in an offer.

Or at least, they were willing to. They backed away once is was made abundantly clear that Liverpool wouldn't be agreeing any deals for the teenager - the Reds wanted everyone to know it would be a waste of time.

Because that's how highly Liverpool rate Ngumoha. The youngster had already shown this season that rejecting the bid was a good idea as he's kicked on to another level, proving himself in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League in ways he didn't quite manage last season.

Of course, everyone expected him to do that, hence the bid from Bayern, but Andoni Iraola has worked some magic in getting Ngumoha to produce it from the right. He now looks comfortable on both flanks, and that only drives that price higher.

So Liverpool were never accepting £60m. But then, it wasn't actually £60m.

Rio Ngumoha's Chelsea sell-on clause

The Telegraph report that £60m offer from Bayern but they also make it clear that there's a 20 per cent sell-on clause to Chelsea. That's the result of Liverpool poaching Ngumoha as a youngster.

The Reds had to pay a nominal fee of below £3m to get him thanks to a tribunal but also had to accept the sell-on. It means they'd have owed £12m of that £60m sale in the summer, reducing the actual income to £48m.

And Liverpool were never selling Ngumoha in order to bank £48m. Not even a slim chance.

But that clause will hang over the player. Liverpool have no intention of selling the teenager but he does only have a contract until 2028. They may actually be forced to sell in 2027 if he doesn't sign a new one and that means taking a reduced fee and still giving a portion of that to Chelsea.

Even if he doesn't leave next year, Ngumoha will never be a player that Liverpool can properly cash in on. They'll always receive well below his true market value because of the Chelsea clause and so we imagine they'll hold onto him no matter what, really.

We don't expect that to be a problem given the form he's showing, let alone his clear development path at Anfield. Liverpool are unlikely to sell for £100m at this point - clause or no clause.