Former Celtic Academy star set for £25m move to Bournemouth

According to The Guardian, the ex-Hoops academy graduate, who has attracted interest from several Premier League teams this summer, appears to have chosen the Cherries as his new club.

After being promoted to the first team early on in his tenure at Liverpool, Ben Doak was tipped for a promising career at Anfield by then manager Jurgen Klopp. Following Arne Slot’s arrival, his opportunities became limited, leading to a season-long loan spell at English Championship side Middlesbrough.

This summer, Slot has invested heavily, signing Hugo Ekitike and former Celtic right-back Jeremie Frimpong, while currently pursuing a potentially record-breaking transfer for Newcastle outcast Alexander Isak.

Given Mo Salah’s legendary status at Liverpool, Doak’s opportunities in the first team have become limited, making a transfer the logical step for him to secure regular minutes on the pitch at this young stage of his career.

During his time at Celtic, Doak made two substitute appearances for the club. He came on in the Hoops’ 3-0  victory over theRangers in early February 2022 and a 1-0 win over Dundee United at Celtic Park in that match before that memorable Glasgow Derby match.

Doak’s featured in 24 games for Middlesborough during his time at the Championship club last season where he netted three goals and contributed seven assists.

It’s unclear whether Celtic will receive any windfall payment from the huge profit Liverpool have made on bringing Doak to Anfield with Celtic previously receiving only cross border compensation.

In other news, following Celtic’s comfortable 4-1 victory over Falkirk last night in the Premier Sports League Cup last 16, Brendan Rodgers gave an update on any possible transfer dealings before Wednesday’s Champions League playoff first leg encounter against Kairat Almaty.

“Hopefully. It would be great [to sign players before the deadline],” Rodgers said in his post match media conference. “We’ve obviously named a squad, but right up until just before the game, we can do that. So that would be really good if we can.”

Conor Spence