Liverpool might have a star in the making in Ben Doak, who traded Celtic for Anfield in the summer transfer window.
The winger is the second-youngest debutant in the Hoops’ history, with his appearance against Dundee United in January a sign of the potential that Ange Postecoglou saw within the starlet.
However, a further cameo appearance against Rangers was not enough to tempt the winger into staying at Celtic, with the forward taking a leaf out of Kenny Dalglish’s book by swapping Glasgow for Merseyside, albeit at youth level.
As per Andy Hunter of The Guardian, in their Next Generation 2022 list, Doak is seen as Liverpool’s next up-and-coming talent, with the writer stating that there is an element of “the street footballer” about the 16-year-old.
Hunter added that the teenager – who he dubbed a “standout player” – is seen as “a winger in the more traditional sense who loves to get on the ball, attack his man and make things happen”.
The starlet has already hit the ground running at Liverpool, having garnered four attacking returns in the form of two goals and two assists in four domestic games for the Reds’ under-18s, with a goal and an assist in the club’s 2-1 win against Napoli in the UEFA Youth League earlier this month.
That’s a total of six attacking returns in as many appearances so far for Doak at underage level for his new club, which is a very promising sign of his adaptation to English football.
With the reputation that Doak is gaining in the Liverpool youth setup, we may well see him on the fringes of the first-team within the next couple of years.
After Dalglish left Celtic to come to Anfield in 1977, he went on to net 172 goals in 515 appearances in red, being widely hailed as one of the great Liverpool players of all time, and also had two spells as manager of the club.
He is most certainly one to watch, and if he can go on to have even a fraction of the impact that King Kenny made at Liverpool, he will surely be held in high esteem by many Kopites further down the line.
