Liverpool complete agreement to sign Celtic starlet Ben Doak - The Athletic
Liverpool have completed an agreement with Celtic to sign 16-year-old winger Ben Doak this summer, with a compensation package of £600,000 agreed according to The Athletic.
Doak, who was yet to agree a professional contract with the Scottish Premiership leaders yet, was being targeted by a host of top clubs across the UK but it’s the Premier League title contenders who have won the race for his signature.
According to a report by The Athletic, despite being offered more lucrative terms by Leeds United, the Scotland youth international has opted for a move to Anfield because of manager Jurgen Klopp’s track record in putting faith in young players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones.
Doak scored a hat-trick for the Scotland U17’s this week against Georgia and has already featured for the Celtic first-team this season, making his debut against Dundee United in January and also coming on as a late substitute against Rangers in February.
Despite agreeing a deal with Liverpool, he will be unable to play for their academy team until next season.
Stockpiling
Losing a top talent like Doak is a huge blow for Celtic, but for Liverpool it’s another addition to their ever growing pile of talent in their youth ranks.
It shows a brilliant change in their plans in the transfer market and is another top signing, just like it was when they signed Harvey Elliott from Fulham a few years ago with him now settled into the first-team after the patience shown in him by the club.
Liverpool are always looking to add talents to their ranks and it’s not often that Celtic have someone good enough coming through from their ranks for someone to try and poach them.
Doak is a brilliant prospect and has shown at international level that he has got plenty of goals in his game, but also the fact he was getting first-team minutes at the club already despite being just 16-years-old shows how highly he was rated by the Glasgow giants.
The fact their attempts to keep him have fallen flat is a big blow, but it shows they’re doing something right to be able to develop a player that well and should keep pushing for the next talent to come through.
In other Liverpool news, Harvey Elliott can make Liverpool statement over next 18 months.