Michael Ngoo Set to Join Hearts on Loan

For a brief period of time, Liverpool possessed a confounding constellation of young strikers' surnames--David Amoo, Michael Ngoo, and David Ngog were all on the books and appeared for the reserves in different stints, with Amoo and Ngoo appearing at least once together in reserve team action (according to Nate from Oh You Beauty, who's the authority on Liverpool minutiae), and zero instances of them having been captured by video or photographic evidence together, lending credence to the theory that they're probably the same person who's just really bad at deviating from consonant and vowel combinations when it comes to creating alternate identities to trick their famous collegiate athlete partners into romantic relationships.

What's important for our purposes is that David Amoo is now at Tranmere Rovers after a range of loan spells and a short spell at Preston North End, David Ngog is at Bolton after leaving on the final day of the summer transfer window in 2011, and now Michael Ngoo is set to join Danny Wilson at Hearts for a loan through the rest of the 2012-2013 season.

Unlike Wilson, it seems like there might still be somewhat of a future at the club for Ngoo, who's featured for the youth and reserve squads since joining in 2009 from Southend United. He's going to have to do some developing in order to secure that future, however--his height is obviously an asset, and he's displayed glimpses of a promising touch and finish, but he's also gone missing for stretches and been inconsistent enough that a stretch with the senior squad hasn't ever really been considered.

During a season in which we've seen a number of younger players get a chance with the first team, Ngoo hasn't been a part of the discussion, and first-team football somewhere seems like it's going to be the best thing for him. Adam Morgan had a chance earlier in the season but didn't last, Samed Yesil has become the next big thing up top even if he proved unprepared, and Raheem Sterling, Suso, and Andre Wisdom have progressed past their former teammate in leaving the youth and reserve setup behind.

The ascension of others doesn't mean a death sentence for Ngoo's Liverpool career, but in a season in which attacking options have been so limited, it's telling that we haven't heard his name mentioned in more than forum discussions or as a crisis option. At 20 years old he's still got plenty of room to grow, but with the club's attacking options looking to be settled through transfers rather than from within--both Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini look to be around for awhile and are just a few years older than Ngoo--the young Englishman's opportunity to gain both experience and momentum heading into next season could prove vital.