One Liverpool player remains very much a man in demand as the January transfer window enters its second week.
The Reds have already rejected offers of £15m and £16m from Crystal Palace and Ipswich respectively for Ben Doak, who’s currently on loan at Middlesbrough, with Paul Joyce reporting that the Premier League leaders had set an asking price of £30m for the Scotland winger.
However, with the two aforementioned suitors both likely to try their luck again for the 19-year-old, Anfield chiefs might be open to revising their stance.
According to GIVEMESPORT, the Eagles are set to make a second offer for Doak after being informed that they might be able to land him from Liverpool for £20m. The Tractor Boys are also prepared to return to the negotiating table amid similar assurances, with the possibility of a bidding war ensuing.
It’s reported that the Merseyside club could reduce his asking price by as much as £10m, having initially tried to play hardball, and it’s possible that his loan at Middlesbrough may be cut short if either Palace or Ipswich were to make a bid which is to LFC’s liking.
It’s added that the £27.5m sale of Fabio Carvalho to Brentford last August is being used as a barometer for reducing Doak’s valuation, with the Scottish teenager not not regarded as a better attacking force as the 22-year-old at this stage of his career.
It seems peculiar that Liverpool could reduce their asking price for the Boro loanee so drastically, especially given that he’s three years younger than Carvalho but, unlike the Bees attacker, is already a senior international who BBC Scotland pundit Tom English hailed as a ‘whirling dervish’ and ‘human blur’ .
However, FSG have a habit of sensing the right time to cash in on young/fringe players at Anfield, particularly when Michael Edwards is involved. The sales of Jordon Ibe (£15m), Harry Wilson (£12m), Rhian Brewster (£23.5m) and Sepp van den Berg (£25m) attest to that.
Perhaps they have a similar feeling of opportunity around Doak, whose stock has risen during his loan spell with Michael Carrick’s side and the UEFA Nations League campaign in the autumn, when he played in all six of Scotland’s matches.
Many Liverpool fans would probably like to see the 19-year-old being given a prolonged chance at his parent club in the manner of a Conor Bradley, for example, but maybe there’s a sense among the powerbrokers that he might find it too difficult to properly break into Arne Slot’s formidable attack.
With the teenager seemingly now available for £20m, there seems a good chance that either Palace or Ipswich could pounce. Let’s just hope that whatever decision the Anfield hierarchy make this month proves to be the correct one.
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