Liverpool player set to be 'banned' from first-team dressing room this season due to 'unbelievable' reason

One Liverpool star has been banned from changing beside his teammates due to a strict rule applied to all UK clubs.

Liverpool got their pre-season campaign underway last weekend with a 3-0 win over Championship side Preston North End at the Deepdale Stadium.

Although the focus of the game was undoubtedly on paying tribute to Diogo Jota and brother Andre Silva, several players produced standout performances in the game.

One of those players, was talented youngster Rio Ngumoha, who is expected to play a role in Liverpool's defence of the Premier League title next season.

But if Ngumoha is to be involved in the matchday squad next season, it is likely that he will have to follow a strict rule that means he won't be able to share a changing room with the rest of his Liverpool teammates.

Rio Ngumoha impressed during Liverpool's 3-1 win over PNE. (Image: Getty)

Back in September last year, Ngumoha joined Liverpool from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee, with the deal seen as a massive coup due to the 16-year-old's talent.

Four months later, Ngumoha became both the youngest player ever to feature in an FA Cup match for Liverpool and the youngest ever to start a competitive fixture after he was named in the starting XI against League Two side Accrington Stanley.

But if he is to continue to be involved in Liverpool's matches, Ngumoha may have to change away from his teammates as FA guidelines recommend that players under the age of 18, who are legally defined as children, do not change alongside adults.

Although it is believed that this is just a guideline, last season Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta suggested the rule was 'unbelievable' when Ethan Nwaneri was similarly left out of the Gunners' changing room.

Speaking about his relationship with Arsenal starlet Myles Lewis-Skelly, who turned 18 months before Nwaneri, Arteta said: "When you see those two [Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri] walking next to each other, talking to each other, there is a bond there and a chemistry there.

"I imagine for them it is special because at the moment they are still in different dressing rooms [at the training ground].

"Ethan cannot be in our dressing room still, which is unbelievable. He needs to get dressed somewhere else, even on match day.

Ethan Nwaneri also had to change away from his Arsenal teammates last season. (Image: Getty)

Like Arteta is discussing when speaking about Nwaneri, it is easy to forget just how young players like Ngumoha are given the quality and maturity they show on the pitch.

And it remains unclear if Liverpool have implemented this rule in matches that Ngumoha has previously featured in, including the pre-season clash with Preston North End.