One of the issues that Celtic have faced in recent years is their inability to successfully bring through youngsters into the senior team. The person who made the jump from the academy and became a regular starter for the Hoops was Kieran Tierney. Anthony Ralston and Stephen Welsh have bit-part roles in the squad but are not key members.
Of course, Celtic have not been helped by the fact that many youngsters have chosen to depart early on in their careers rather than wait to get their breakthrough at Parkhead. Ben Doak is someone who falls under that category.
Doak made a couple of appearances for Celtic while Ange Postecoglou was the manager of the club. One came in the Glasgow Derby. But that was not enough to convince the youngster to stay as he made the move to Liverpool.
He has made some appearances for Liverpool already but unsurprisingly, regular football has been hard to come by. As a result, he now finds himself on loan in the Championship with Middlesbrough and things seem to be going pretty well for him there.
Ace who left Celtic now playing like Jude Bellingham
As reported by 67 Hail Hail, Ally McCoist said on talkSPORT while talking about Doak:
"He, without getting carried away and we do get carried away. We don’t want to put too much pressure, particularly on the young lads. But he has been fabulous. Pace. Outstanding potential. I am not going to compare him to Jude Bellingham, but I am comparing him to Jude Bellingham in the sense that he plays with a freedom. When Bellingham first come onto the scene, for a young man, he was fearless and he looked like he was loving everything about it. And Ben Doak seems to be in that place. Completely different players. The comparison I am making is that there is a freshness about them."
That is a bold comparison to make for sure but also one that makes sense. There has never been any question about Doak's elite talent. Now, it remains to be seen whether that translates to the senior game.
Of course, doing well away on loan is not a guarantee of success at Liverpool. We have seen so many players over the years, despite their unquestionable talents, fail to make it at Anfield. But then, there have been plenty of success stories as well. What does the future hold for Doak? Time shall tell.