Many young stars will be looking to shine at this summer’s World Cup.
One up-and-coming prospect has Celtic blood in him, and he will be looking to guide Scotland to the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time – Ben Gannon-Doak.
The 20-year-old only made a handful of appearances for Celtic, leaving in 2022 as a teenager for Liverpool, and ending up at Bournemouth in a £25 million deal in 2025.
Andy Halliday posed the interesting question of what would have happened if the champions of Scotland had kept hold of the tricky winger for a few more years, because he is just a ‘ridiculous’ footballer, as he told Open Goal.
“See just on Ben-Doak,” said Halliday. “Imagine if Celtic managed to keep hold of Ben-Doak until he was about 18 or 19 – He is ridiculous, so good.”
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Has it worked out for Ben Gannon-Doak since leaving Celtic?
The fact that Gannon-Doak is at the 2026 World Cup with Scotland probably indicates that the right call was made.
But on the domestic front, he isn’t playing as much as he would have liked, although injury didn’t help him during the recent campaign.
Halliday feels that the Liverpool move ‘worked out’ for the Scottish winger, even though he only made ten appearances for the Reds.
Halliday: “See just on Ben Doak. Imagine if Celtic managed to keep hold of Ben Doak until he was about 18 or 19.”
Paul Slane: “He came on against Rangers, didn’t he?”
Si Ferry: “Ange gave him his debut.”
Halliday: “The Liverpool move still worked out for him. He still played games.
“But at Bournemouth, he’s just- obviously, he has had injuries, but he needs to be playing somewhere. He is ridiculous, so good.”
Doak’s numbers since leaving Celtic
Doak suffered a pretty big hamstring injury during Scotland’s win over Denmark in November, which sealed their World Cup status for the first time since 1998.
That kept him out for months, not returning to action for Bournemouth until March.
Consequently, Gannon-Doak is still waiting to kickstart his Bournemouth career following his big-money transfer.
The Cherries secured a historic Europa League spot under Andoni Iraola, right before the Basque manager left the Vitality Stadium to join Liverpool.
But this has been Doak’s path since leaving Celtic several years ago:
- Joins Liverpool in 2022
- Make his Liverpool debut in August 2022
- Earns his first start for Liverpool in September 2023
- Goes on loan to Middlesbrough for the 2024/25 campaign
- Scores three goals and supplies seven assists for Boro
- Joins Bournemouth during the 2025 summer transfer window
- Helps Scotland qualify for the World Cup in November 2025
- Set to play at the 2026 World Cup
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