Former Celtic youngster who made his debut at 16 now wanted by two Premier League clubs

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Celtic have a rich history when it comes to bringing through bright talents.

You only have to look at the current crop of players and see the likes of Kieran Tierney, James Forrest and Callum McGregor in the squad while Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh and several others have all been regulars.

The Celtic academy is something to be proud of, but some of those who get a head-start and make their debut early often find themselves moving on pretty quickly too.

Karamoko Dembele is one example and another one of those who made his debut at the age of 16 could be in line for a big-money move.

• READ MORE: Martin O’Neill tells Russell Martin he’s made his first mistake as Rangers boss in his pursuit of Celtic

Ben Doak could be heading for the Liverpool exit door

Ben Doak never got much of a chance to show the Bhoys what he was made of, but in his brief time with the first-team, it was evident he was going to shine.

Now a regular with Scotland’s senior side, Doak has been trying to break into the Liverpool side, which is brimming with talent.

Premier League clubs are monitoring the 19-year-old and according to journalist David Lynch on X, West Ham United and Wolves are both keen.

Back in January, Liverpool rejected £20m bids from Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace.

If Doak were to be sold, Celtic would receive no windfall due to the fact that Liverpool were only required to pay compensation to sign the youngster.

The reason Ben Doak didn’t stay at Celtic

There will always be a feeling of ‘what if’ around Doak and his Celtic future.

Nobody knows how long he would’ve stayed, even if he rejected Liverpool’s advances and his representative, Celtic hero Jackie McNamara revealed on the Open Goal podcast that he could’ve remained at Parkhead.

“Ange had put him in a couple of times and if he’d have kept him in the first-team. The problem is if you’re not in the first-team they need something in between that to get the boys to go out,” McNamara explained.

“No disrespect to the Lowland League but when you’re at a certain level it’s stimulation, you need to go and play and be tested so there’s somewhere else boys can go if they’re not in the first-team.

“I think if they kept him in at that point he might’ve wanted to stay.”