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Liverpool wonderkid READY for first team after EMBARRASSING world’s most expensive defender

Liverpool’s biggest problem at the moment is the ongoing contract situation surrounding Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

 

All three are out of contract at the end of the season and Liverpool are playing with fire by allowing them to get very close to January 1 – when they can sign pre-contract agreements with foreign clubs – without tying them down to new deals.

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It helps in this situation that Liverpool have some emerging talents coming through at just the right time, who may not be ready to fully replace any of the three, but are definitely ready to take the step up and impact first-team games.

 

Ben Doak is one of those players.

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Since signing for Liverpool for just £600k in 2022, Doak has become the youngest Scottish player to make his debut in the Premier League, played four times for his national team and is currently ripping the Championship to shreds on loan at Middlesborough. Not bad for a 19-year-old who spent much of last season out with a knee injury.

 

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And now he’s passed yet another audition with an excellent performance in Scotland’s 1-0 win over Croatia in the Nations League during the week.

 

Doak roasts Gvardiol: “I don’t take notice of reputations”

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Doak is not a player short on confidence. He was Scotland’s best attacking player against a Croatia side who boast one of the world’s best defenders in Gvardiol.

 

£77m Gvardiol against £600k Doak. There should only be one winner on paper.

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Doak created Scotland’s winning goal with a sharp run down the right, before crossing the ball which eventually ended up at the feet of John McGinn.

 

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He had the highest expected goals + assists for Scotland, with 0.55. He had six touches in the opposition box and created the most chances for his side.

 

He also caused Gvardiol all kinds of trouble, and wasn’t afraid to big himself up after the game.

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“Gvardiol’s one of the best in the world, isn’t he?” Doak told the Daily Record. “So it’s good to test yourself against players of that calibre.

 

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We both had our moments when we got the better of each other, but I’ve loved both games against him.

 

“When I went past him early in the first half I didn’t realise it had gone through his legs, I just flicked it and hoped it’d come out the other side, which it did. We were unfortunate not to score from that one, but it was another moment I enjoyed.

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I don’t see faces on the park, I just see a kit and a blank face. I don’t take notice of reputations. I just believe that if I’m good enough to be on the pitch then I should be up to whoever I’m against

 

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In a weird way, Doak is actually behind schedule. The knee injury he suffered in December 2023 meant he missed the rest of last season. As players tired towards the end of Jurgen Klopp’s reign, Doak would have been a perfect option off the bench when chasing a win.

 

Instead, he was at home nursing an MCL injury, jealous of the game time Klopp was giving to other young players.

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“Before I got the injury I played a fair few games [for the first team], I got my first starts,” Doak told the Scotland national team’s YouTube channel during the summer.

 

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“It was pretty difficult for young players to get into the squad at that time.

 

Obviously as the season went on all the young lads at Liverpool started to do well, scoring a few goals here and there, so it was gutting to see that.”

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