Lewis Koumas sends pointed 12-word message to Andoni Iraola after ’emotional’ top-flight debut | OneFootball

Lewis Koumas has said he is ready to ‘help impact’ games for Liverpool after making his Premier League debut for the Reds on Sunday.

The 20-year-old came off the bench for the final quarter-hour of the 2-2 draw away to Newcastle as he was handed his top-flight bow and a first competitive outing for the Merseyside club since scoring on his debut against Southampton in the FA Cup in February 2024.

He didn’t quite manage to replicate the feat of Rio Ngumoha, who was also handed a first Premier League appearance at St James’ Park 12 months ago and scored a stoppage-time winner that night, but the Wales international made a couple of strong runs during his time on the pitch yesterday.

Koumas backs himself to ‘impact games’ for Liverpool

Speaking to liverpoolfc.com after the game, Koumas said he was ’emotional’ after being granted his top-flight debut, and he was asked about his mindset in terms of his short-term future at Anfield.

He replied: “I think I can help impact games as well in this league”, adding: “You know, it’s nice to get my debut, but ultimately I want to go on and score goals and try to impact where we can finish in the league. So, yeah, we’ll see what happens.”

(Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

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Koumas is a talent, but Liverpool still need more in attack

Koumas’ message to Iraola is clear – even if Liverpool don’t manage to sign another winger before the transfer deadline next Tuesday, he’s ready to do a job for the team whenever he’s needed.

We love that self-confidence from the youngster and we’re all for the promotion of academy talents to first-team status. Plus, the 20-year-old showed some very promising signs for the Reds in pre-season, to the point that club chiefs have reportedly been reconsidering whether or not to loan him out.

However, it’d be unfair to burden him with any major responsibility when he’s so inexperienced at this level, and he shouldn’t have to carry the can for the failings of those in the Anfield boardroom to have sufficient top-quality cover across the attack, especially when we’ve known since March that Mo Salah was leaving.

The ideal scenario is that Liverpool manage to sign at least one of Bradley Barcola or Yankuba Minteh in the next eight days and that Koumas will continue to be handed a decent supply of game-time, especially in the domestic cups.

The Welshman need only look at Ngumoha as the perfect case study to try and emulate as he seeks to establish himself in the Reds’ first-team squad this season.