One ex-Manchester United player has urged a former club of his to pounce for a player who may be ‘available’ from Liverpool this month.
As per James Pearce for The Athletic, Ben Doak is ‘expected to depart’ Anfield before the end of August, with the likes of Leicester and Southampton reportedly interested in the 18-year-old.
Brian McClair, who played for Celtic in addition to the Red Devils, believes that the LFC teenager would be an ideal addition to the Hoops’ squad.
Follow Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
Speaking about Doak to Football Scotland, the 60-year-old said: “I think he’s available on loan and he’s someone that Celtic should be interested in. I know he left a few years ago but I’ve also heard that Liverpool might want to sell him.
“I think Celtic should be interested in young players who clearly are good enough to be recruited by Liverpool in the Premier League and have been involved in a few games.
“His age and position is something that Celtic should be interested in. The first instance, get him on loan and then he may well be someone who can flourish in Celtic’s squad and perhaps in their team…Someone like Ben Doak, if he continues to make progress, is going to be a good player.”
With Mo Salah a guaranteed starter on the right flank at Liverpool whenever he’s available, Doak will likely find it difficult to enjoy regular game-time at Anfield this season, so a loan exit might be a positive step for his development.
He could do a lot worse than return to Celtic temporarily, with Brendan Rodgers’ side able to offer him a plausible chance of featuring abundantly in the Champions League and, of course, winning major silverware in Scotland.
While a loan move might be ideal for the 18-year-old, provided that it’s to a club where he’ll get plenty of minutes, we’d implore the Reds not to sell the teenager who Virgil van Dijk dubbed a ‘Tasmanian Devil‘.
Doak has impressed in his sporadic appearances for Liverpool’s first team and was a standout player in the 0-0 draw against Las Palmas last weekend with his direct running, so LFC would be very foolish to part with him permanently unless a truly astounding offer were to be made.
Having already cashed in on Fabio Carvalho, we’d like to think that Anfield chiefs won’t dispense with another promising young forward this month.
EOTK Close-up with John Welsh: ‘a local lad who lived his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions