Ben Doak is apparently on the verge of joining Liverpool from Celtic.
The move has been widely rumoured since the turn of the year but now seems inevitable after being reported by David Friel of The Sun.
Last February it was the former Celtic View reporter who broke the news that Neil Lennon was resigning from Celtic- a full 10 hours ahead of the Stock Market announcement.
Just after 9pm tonight, Friel reported in The Sun:
BEN DOAK is on the verge of finalising his move to Liverpool. SunSport understands the Celtic winger is close to agreeing terms on a long-term deal at Anfield.
Doak, 16, is now set to join the Reds – who will pay the Hoops a six-figure compensation fee to land him.
The Scotland under-17 star has started following Liverpool first-team and academy accounts on social media.
And a move to the Premier League giants is imminent after Doak opted to pursue a career in England.
In real terms the loss of Doak is no big deal but it continues a worrying trend where emerging talents increasingly see themselves moving elsewhere, long before kicking a ball for Celtic’s first team.
Liam Hughes is already at Liverpool with Liam Morrison and Barry Hepburn moving further afield to Bayern Munich.
Celtic will pick up a token development fee for Doak who will go straight into the Liverpool coaching network with a variety of loan options opening up.
Hopefully he is a huge success, with Liverpool but make it happen now, Keep Roco Vata in the loop, we want every player young or older in for the long run so let him move now he doesn’t want to be here. Hh
He may be one of the very lucky ones who’s talent does in fact get him to the top in the game, but most likely is he will fade away into obscurity, plenty of money in the bank, but hopping from div to div, probably ending up at a Falkirk or similar.
So many end up down this road because their head is turned to early.
He doesn’t want to be a Celtic so ,his choice hell end up like so many others at that young age ,big money and so called glamour , good riddance.
Hughes is currently on loan at Stalybridge Celtic…highly doubtful he will ever hold down a first team slot IMHO.
Players come & players go….we get a small fee for Doak etc but on the flip side we have acquired such as Dembele, Frimpong etc and sold them on for huge fees.
Don’t expect Doak, Morrison, or Hepburn to achieve what those players have.
Swings & roundabouts for me.