Former Celtic prospect named on impressive Next Gen list amongst EPL talents

Add as preferred source on Google

Former Celtic academy prospect Ben Doak has been named amongst some of the best up-and-coming youngsters at each English Premier League club.

The 16-year-old made waves at Parkhead after his rapid rise through the Lennoxtown academy system, where he showed great promise from a young age.

Doak even went on to make his early first-team debut and became the club’s 2nd youngest ever playing during a 1-0 victory over Dundee United in January.

Just days later, Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou then went on to hand Doak his second appearance on a huge stage, as he came on as a substitute in the Glasgow Derby.

With the young winger showcasing his promise and potential at the club’s youth sides, including the B team in the fifth tier of Scottish Football, many English sides were expected to be keeping a close eye on the youngster.

And that was exactly the case as European giants, Liverpool, made their move to bring Doak to Anfield this summer.

Unfortunately, the Hoops couldn’t keep a hole of the brilliant talent, and he instead made the incredible move south of the border.

Since joining Liverpool, Doak has continued to excel, contributing towards six goals in six appearances for the u18s, and he is already leaving Reds fans impressed with what they are seeing.

In recent weeks, at just 16, the winger has even gone on to make his Scotland under-21s debut, scoring during the Tartan Army’s 3-1 win over Northern Ireland.

The former Celtic kid has been named on the Guardian’s Next Generation list of the best talents, who were born between 1st of September 2005 – 31st of August 2006, progressing through English Premier League academies at each club.

Previous editions of this list have included the likes of Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who are all seen as some of the top players in Europe.

Celtic’s very own Cameron Carter-Vickers even appeared on this list for the best talents coming through the academy system down south in 2014.

The writers of this column have plenty of options to choose from when it comes to selecting some of the best players each club has to offer.

In this year’s edition, Ben Doak is that player for Liverpool, with the young wide player expected to have a huge future ahead of him.

The column describes Doak as a player by saying: “Became the second-youngest debutant in Celtic’s history when introduced against Dundee United in January, but that breakthrough, plus a taste of an Old Firm victory over Rangers, was not enough to keep the winger with his boyhood team when Liverpool agreed a £600,000 compensation deal in March.

“There is an element of the street footballer about Doak, a winger in the more traditional sense who loves to get on the ball, attack his man and make things happen. Direct, quick and with an eye for goal, the confident Scot has hit the ground running at Liverpool and been a standout player for the Under-18s this season.

“Marked his Uefa Youth League debut in September with a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win away at Napoli.”

Ben Doak will go on and do big things for club and country in the future.

Having seen Doak’s first appearances for both the B team and first team, it was clear that the winger was bound to go on and do big things in his footballing career.

The Scotland youth international possesses all the quality traits needed to reach the very top, and he is headed in the right direction to reach that point.

At such a young age, Doak has plenty of time to continue his development, and I am sure the Liverpool academy will have his future mapped out as one of the hopeful prospects at the club.

It is such a real shame we couldn’t catch more of a glimpse of the youngster during his time in the Parkhead academy, but ultimately, we were going up against one of the biggest and best academies in the world for his pro signature.

Hopefully, we are at least able to celebrate and enjoy some of Doak’s ventures for Scotland in the future, with the attacker already reaching the heights of the nation’s under-21s squad.

Although it may not be with Celtic, I am excited to see where he heads as a player after starting off and making first-team appearances for his boyhood club.

In other news, Celtic star helps nation secure European Championship qualification.