Summer 2022 Transfer Thread

[Sugar Ape]

Ben Doak’s exit will hurt Celtic, Liverpool are signing a supremely talented 16-year-old

 

 

Celtic’s loss looks like it will be Liverpool’s gain once more.

 

It appears that 16-year-old Ben Doak has decided to sign his first professional contract with Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League and Champions League title chasers, despite Celtic’s best attempts to hang onto him.

 

Doak’s departure will be bitterly felt in their part of Glasgow. It is the latest in a procession that’s seen some of the Celtic academy’s most talented players leaving for Europe’s elite clubs in recent years, including Bayern Munich (Liam Morrison and Barry Hepburn), Manchester City (Josh Adam) and another departure to Anfield last year in goalkeeper Liam Hughes.

 

His case is different, though, as Celtic made such an effort to convince him to stay.

 

Manager Ange Postecoglou handed him first-team opportunities in January and February, and a clear pathway to more regular first-team football was communicated. It is believed that Doak being given game time in those two recent matches against Dundee United and Rangers was not just a political move, he was with the first team on merit.

 

Although Doak has been earmarked as a promising talent, even those who have followed him closely during his Celtic career have been surprised by his ascendance, which attracted attention from Chelsea as well as Liverpool.

 

He only really came to prominence beyond the Celtic and Scotland youth set-ups after a man-of-the-match performance on his debut for Scotland Under-17s against their Wales counterparts in September.

 

Then he made his first-team debut for Celtic in January just two months after turning 16 — and barely one month after his B team bow in the Lowland League. The lad only graduated from Celtic’s St Ninian’s school programme last year.

 

Everything has progressed incredibly quickly.

 

Doak, like Arsenal’s Celtic old boy Kieran Tierney and Celtic colleague Stephen Welsh and Mikey Johnston, is a graduate of Celtic’s partnership with St. Ninian’s High School, based in Kirkintilloch, just north of Glasgow.

 

The programme is designed to help academy players train as frequently as possible without compromising on their education.

 

The academy kids train three or four times a week, before and after school, and many of the ones who live further away from Glasgow have to get up before the crack of dawn and might not get home until 8pm or later and then still have homework and revision to complete. The programme requires serious commitment from players and their families.

 

Martin Miller was an academy coach at Celtic when Doak joined its junior levels, and was also involved with the family via the school programme. He saw enough of Doak at St Ninian’s to know how exciting he is.

 

“That’s a boy with pace — a lad you couldn’t describe as shy,” Miller says. “Plenty of self-belief and ambition, very quick and very good on the ball.”

 

Doak is a lightning-fast winger or attacking midfielder, with a deceptively good first touch and close control that are disguised by his sheer speed. In the 25 minutes he played in those recent substitute appearances against Dundee United and Rangers, he was direct, confident and driven — the antithesis of the rabbit-in-the-headlights that some young attacking players become when making their senior debuts.

 

Remarkably, he was even unfazed by the occasion of an Old Firm game at Celtic Park. If anything, he was too overeager to make his mark, getting himself booked after being subbed on in the 87th minute against Rangers.

 

Miller recalls the last time a Celtic 16-year-old made his debut in a home game — when Jack Aitchison, now of League Two leaders Forest Green Rovers on loan from Barnsley of the English Championship, was subbed on late in the final game of the 2015-16 season and, after two minutes, scored the last goal of the runaway champions’ 7-0 win over Motherwell.

 

There was a big difference in when they were introduced, though.

 

Doak was subbed on for the final quarter of that must-win home game against Dundee United with the score still goalless and asked to help secure the three points. The pressure of the latter fixture four days later, of course, speaks for itself.

 

“I remember Jack came on at 16 against Motherwell and scored, but that game was won,” Miller says. “(For Doak) against Dundee United, the game was still to be won — and the other game was against Rangers! It says a lot about the two people, about Doak and Postecoglou, that they could work well in that situation.

 

“It was a brave decision, and he never let the manager down either. It looked like he had been in the first team for years.”

 

But Doak’s involvement in those games has not helped Celtic’s cause in the longer term. He informed Postecoglou of his intention to leave a couple of weeks ago, and has subsequently no longer been included in match-day squads. Postecoglou has expressly stated his intention to only play those who buy into his Celtic project.

 

Sometimes, the draw from elsewhere can be too powerful for a young player to resist. While there has been concern about Celtic’s retention of young players, in this specific instance the outcome seems outside of their control.

 

The opportunity to join one of Europe’s best teams, who have a pedigree for developing young talents and promoting them into the first team if they are deemed good enough, was too compelling a Liverpool sales pitch.

 

While Celtic will reflect on another gem who got away, Liverpool will be adding another potential star to their set-up at Kirkby.

 

Doak’s blend of talent and self-belief will stand him in good stead.

[Bad Red Bull]

Small compilation:

 

 

[3 Stacks]

Gerard Romero, who can be reliable for Barca, is saying we have a contract offer for Gavi, and he has a release clause that is 50m. Likely this is just to pressure Barca into giving him better terms for his new deal, but it's at least notable. Gavi is someone that's come up a bit in the past. 

[Megadrive Man]

Gavi said recently that he wants to be a Barcelona legend. I think any chance if him joining us is just a ploy from his agent.

[Evelyn Tentions]

17 hours ago, Bad Red Bull said:

Small compilation:

 

 

 

Yes please.

[Numero Veinticinco]

Pretty sure he’s the best player to ever almost play for us. 

[joe_fishfish]

Doak has a haircut last sported by a young Steven Gerrard on the brink of his explosion into the first team.

 

For that reason alone, I'm all in.

[TheHowieLama]

More Spearing than Gerrard.

[joe_fishfish]

In that case, I'm even further in.

[Funkasy]

37 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

More Spearing than Gerrard.

Nice of you to point that out

[Babb'sBurstNad]

On 15/03/2022 at 08:35, Bad Red Bull said:

Small compilation:

 

 

 

Looks like he's doing the Madness dance in that still.

[Boss]

Must be a good player if he's playing for Celtic at 16. Apparently, Chelsea were competing with us for him but got fucked off due to the instability around the club. You hate to see it. 

[Trumo]

 

                                                                     Okily Doakily!

[Red74]

Hopefully the chels have a firesale in the summer and we can nip in and get that Connor Gallagher on the cheap.

 

Cracker young player who ticks all the right boxes for us 

[TD_LFC]

4 minutes ago, Red74 said:

Hopefully the chels have a firesale in the summer and we can nip in and get that Connor Gallagher on the cheap.

 

Cracker young player who ticks all the right boxes for us 

If there was a fire sale I'd imagine the likes of Gallagher would be one of the players they'd build the new team around, they'd be replacing the likes of Kovacic with him.

[Boss]

I'd have Kovacic here. Boss player.

[El Rojo]

Took us the guts of 30 years to realise that we don't have periods of sustained success without a Scot or two. 

[El Rojo]

1 hour ago, Boss said:

I'd have Kovacic here. Boss player.

Was about to rule this out on age grounds but he's still only 27. Seems he's been around for ages. 

[J-V]

3 hours ago, Red74 said:

Hopefully the chels have a firesale in the summer and we can nip in and get that Connor Gallagher on the cheap.

 

Cracker young player who ticks all the right boxes for us 

We won’t get anyone cheap from them and they’ll no doubt be bought out by an ever richer cunt probably Saudi’s.

[Boss]

25 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

Was about to rule this out on age grounds but he's still only 27. Seems he's been around for ages. 

I used to go on the Inter forum because it was good crack and they loved him on there. He was playing regularly for them at around 18. 

[Funkasy]

4 hours ago, El Rojo said:

Took us the guts of 30 years to realise that we don't have periods of sustained success without a Scot or two. 

Ive gone through our player list several times now and cant find anyone named Scot.

[El Dangerous]

24 minutes ago, Funkasy said:

Ive gone through our player list several times now and cant find anyone named Scot.

I think he meant Scotch.

[Funkasy]

1 hour ago, El Dangerous said:

I think he meant Scotch.

Scotch beam me up.

[sir roger]

Not sure how reliable the Express is but suggesting £23m for Gomez. Seems low to me.

[Pidge]

Decent loan fee