Liverpool’s Ben Doak will spend 2024-25 season on loan with Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough have completed the signing of Liverpool forward Ben Doak on a season-loan deal.

The 18-year-old has joined the Championship club for the remainder of the campaign after Liverpool agreed to the temporary move on transfer deadline day.

Doak, a Scotland U21 international, arrived at Anfield from Celtic in the summer of 2022.

Since then, he has made 10 senior appearances for Liverpool, including a debut at just 16 years old against Derby County in November 2022.

He signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool in September 2023, but his progress was hindered by a knee injury sustained shortly before Christmas, which caused him to miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season.

Ben Doak was named in the provisional Scotland squad for Euro 2024 but had to withdraw due to injury.

After making five friendly appearances for Liverpool during pre-season, he will now look to gain further senior experience under Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick.

The recent addition of Federico Chiesa from Juventus has intensified the competition for places on the wings, leading to a decision to loan out teenage winger Ben Doak to gain senior experience in the second tier.

With Chiesa becoming the sixth senior attacking option for head coach Arne Slot at Liverpool, and the introduction of a new-look Champions League reducing opportunities for rotation in Europe this season, it was deemed more beneficial for Doak to secure regular game time in the North East.

Doak’s loan move also follows a meniscus injury sustained in an Under-21s match against Chelsea last December, shortly after his last senior appearance in a 2-1 Europa League defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise in Brussels.

Doak’s departure is part of a broader pattern of deadline-day moves, which also saw Nat Phillips join Derby County and Stefan Bajcetic head to Red Bull Salzburg on a short-term loan.

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