Take a moment to read your Liverpool FC digest for Sunday, March 20.
Ben Doak close to Liverpool move as Bayern Munich and Man City beaten to signing
Liverpool are close to finalising a deal with Celtic to bring teenager Ben Doak to the club. The 16-year-old is yet to sign professional terms with his current side but will the Scottish giants will be due some compensation if Doak completes the move to the Kirkby Academy.
READ MORE: 'Wow' - Alan Shearer shocked by what Jurgen Klopp did against Arsenal
Anfield sources have stressed that the deal is not complete yet but there is plenty of excitement at the prospect of adding another talented teen to an ever-expanding roster within the youth ranks at the club. Such has been Doak's development that he was given first-team minutes manager Ange Postecoglou as a late substitute in the 3-0 win over Rangers in early February.
He made his debut as a second-half substitute for Anthony Ralston in the 1-0 victory against Dundee United on January 29, which was viewed as an attempt by manager Postecoglou to convince Doak to stay with his boyhood Bhoys. Doak became Celtic's second-youngest ever debutant behind only Jack Aitchison when he entered the fray with a little over 20 minutes left of the Scottish Premiership clash.
"He's a fantastic kid who comes from a good family. He looked really composed for his age," Postecoglou said after the game.
"He'll have grown up a bit today. It will given him a different perspective on life. He probably would have been on the other side of the terracing if he hadn't been playing."
Read the full story HERE
Mohamed Salah should copy his agent in response to £100m Barcelona 'transfer plan' at Liverpool
All it took was seven well-timed, well-placed emojis to open the door to fevered speculation around Mohamed Salah last week.
In a social media response to words from Jurgen Klopp about Salah's Liverpool future, the Egyptian's representative, Ramy Abbas, set tongues wagging as the rumour mill went into overdrive.
"Mo definitely expects this club to be ambitious," Klopp said last week in response to a question at the pre-match press conference for the Brighton game. "We were in the last few years and we are.
"We cannot do much more, that's how it is. But I don't think it's about that. It's Mo's decision pretty much. The club did what the club can do. That's how it is."
But despite Klopp attempting to play down the situation - one that he as manager is not involved in directly - speculation from around Europe gathered pace, with one suggestion claiming that Salah was holding out for a move to Barcelona. Spanish outlet SPORT have reported that Liverpool's 28-goal leading scorer is open to the possibility of a move to Barca, despite repeatedly claiming his desire to remain on Merseyside this season.
"Barca is aware of the footballer's economic demands and is clear that it would be a much more affordable operation than Erling Haaland's, although uncontrolled because everything will depend on what Liverpool asks for as a transfer," they reported.
"The English club is always very hard [when] negotiating and although Salah will only have one year left on his contract, it is not ruled out that they will drop with a price that would be around €100m."
The lure of Barcelona is one that can never truly be discounted given their status as one of the planet's superclubs, but is their current standing in the game somewhere fitting for a player of Salah's rare genius right now?
Read the full story and Liverpool FC correspondent Paul Gorst's view HERE.
