Liverpool journalist Matt Addison has said he ‘wouldn’t completely rule out’ the possibility of Ben Doak securing a loan move away from Anfield for the 2023/24 season.
The Scottish teenager made five senior appearances for the Reds in his first campaign at the club following his arrival from Celtic last summer (Transfermarkt).
Although he’s currently in line to be Mo Salah’s main understudy for the right-winger position in Jurgen Klopp’s first team, Addison has suggested that the 17-year-old could attract enquiries for a possible loan switch.
He told The Redmen TV‘s Expert Insight: “I wouldn’t completely rule out a loan move, for someone like Harvey Elliot, I know Liverpool weren’t pushing for that but he felt could get more minutes and it proved to be the right thing for him.
“So I wouldn’t necessarily completely rule that out for someone like Ben Doak, it wouldn’t be the worst thing for him to go and have a full season of minutes and be a regular if you get that loan right.
“I think he’s definitely ready, of all these players, he’s the one you can look at physically and think you could throw him in a Premier League and he wouldn’t look out of place. He wouldn’t look out of place, he wouldn’t get knocked off the ball.
“I expect his role to grow again next season. Again the Europa League could be one you start, even if it’s 20-30 minutes the group is already done and Liverpool have progressed to the knockout stages.
“With all these things you’ve got to sort of hope and pray the domestic cups fall their way. If Liverpool get Manchester City away in the FA Cup and the League Cup then maybe it’s a little bit trickier for him to get that pathway to the minutes.
“With Roberto Firmino leaving another forward not necessarily the priority, I think it makes sense to use a couple of these players. I think Ben Doak is almost there, he is a certainty to play minutes for Liverpool at first-team level if he’s still here.
“But as I said I wouldn’t completely rule out a loan move, I’m sure there’ll be enquiries. I’m sure top end Championship and even a couple of clubs in the Premier League would be interested in him because he is very much ready to take that next step and I’m really excited to see what he can do.”
Addison’s citation of Elliott’s loan move to Blackburn in 2020/21 as an example of how such a spell can greatly benefit young players at Liverpool is a valid one, with the 20-year-old making 58 senior appearances over the past two seasons since returning to Anfield (Transfermarkt).
Tyler Morton is another who made the most of a temporary move to Ewood Park last term, racking up 46 matches for Rovers (Transfermarkt), so those successes add weight to the idea of sanctioning a loan exit for Doak, who doesn’t turn 18 until November.
However, as mentioned earlier, the Reds don’t currently have any other natural right-sided alternative for Salah, who’ll miss a handful of games in early 2024 due to Egypt’s participation in the Africa Cup of Nations.
As Addison referenced, the Europa League and domestic cups could also give opportunities to Liverpool’s younger or more peripheral players to receive game-time and allow the stalwarts a rest, and games like those could be perfect for the Scottish teenager.
Doak has already done quite well to get a handful of first-team outings despite not yet being an adult, and he can boast the backing of one of the most influential figures in LFC history, with Sir Kenny Dalglish saying that the 17-year-old has been ‘brilliant’ so far at Anfield (Football Scotland).
A decision on the forward’s immediate future could depend on how much game-time Klopp envisages giving him next season, and whether the manager feels he needs a natural in-house alternative to Salah, irrespective of his age.
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