As ever, Liverpool have a number of players hoping to catch the eye while out away from Anfield this season.
The Reds have made good use of loan spells over recent years, giving the likes of Conor Bradley and Tyler Morton crucial game time and room to properly develop.
A good loan can be the making of a young player, allowing big steps to be made ready for a return to Liverpool.
Bradley is perhaps the best example of this. The right-back was Bolton’s player of the season in League One during the 2022/23 campaign.
After looking too good for the third division, Bradley has made a permanent step up to the Liverpool squad ever since coming back to Anfield.
It is still early days in this campaign, but Ben Doak is looking like he could have a similar impact for Middlesbrough in the Championship.
Ben Doak earns rave reviews
First and foremost, Doak is in need of a season uninterrupted by injury. The 18-year-old has had the past 18 months or so decimated by fitness problems.
Rewind back to November 2022 and having just seen the flying winger make his debut for Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp was raving about Doak to anyone who would listen.
From there the former Celtic prospect cemented his place in the then Reds’ manager’s thinking and became a genuine option in the forward line.
But having looked set for a bigger role in 2023/24, Doak simply couldn’t shake off injuries. With Federico Chiesa arriving to bolster the Liverpool attack, a loan spell made the most sense for Ben.
Thankfully, he looks to have chosen well by joining Middlesbrough. The Teesside club are a decent outfit under Michael Carrick and are likely to be in the promotion picture.
After easing his way into his new club with two substitute appearances, Doak started for the first time on Saturday and duly scored his first professional goal.
Another start followed against West Brom on Tuesday night and although he didn’t find the net, the Liverpool youngster earned rave reviews from Albion legend Tony Brown during the match.
“That Ben Doak, on loan from Liverpool, looks a serious player,” the pundit told BBC Radio WM.
“Look out for that little lollipop trick he does, one foot over the other and then he crosses. He is one to look out for, one to watch, recently called up to the Scotland squad too.”
Don’t forget about Doak
It was not a surprise to see Doak get his first goal on his first start for Boro last weekend.
Despite what he may see as a little setback in being sent away from Liverpool, the Scotsman is probably too good for the Championship.
Nevertheless, Doak would do well to follow the example set by Harvey Elliott when out on-loan at Blackburn Rovers in 2020/21.
Elliott was also seen as a precocious young winger who had a future in the Liverpool first-team. What the then 17-year-old did at Blackburn only underlined that he would be in Klopp’s squad when he returned.
Although there is still likely to be plenty of competition under Arne Slot next season, if Doak gets his head down and keeps delivering eye-catching displays, no one at Liverpool will forget about him.
