Liverpool prospect Ben Doak has been likened to Wayne Rooney by one of his former coaches at Celtic.
Jurgen Klopp's side secured the signing of the 17-year-old during the summer transfer window, with the £600,000 fee they parted with already appearing a bargain price. Doak has predominantly featured for the Reds' under-18s and under-21s since his arrival, though made his first-team debut in an EFL Cup third round tie versus Derby at Anfield last month.
Five days after making this milestone appearance, the teenager penned his first professional deal at the club and was later included in the matchday squad for Liverpool's final Premier League fixture before the World Cup break.
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Doak a Celtic fan, left the club he has supported all his life despite being handed two opportunities at Scottish Premiership level - one of which came against Rangers. The player's agent, former Celtic full-back Jackie McNamara, has admitted he expected his client to remain put after being made to feel 'very welcome' at Liverpool.
"In fairness, I thought the Old Firm game might have swung it," McNamara told BBC Sport. "Because my whole thing was, show the kid that you're going to keep him, show him that he's not behind six or seven other players. He doesn't want to play against Civil Service Strollers in the B team.
"But for the Old Firm game he was getting bombarded for tickets, for this, for that, down where he lived in Ayrshire. He turned his phone off. You forget he was only 16. I asked what he was thinking and he just didn't want to stay. When Ben went down to visit Liverpool, Klopp said, 'Ah Ben, I've seen your stuff.' Straight away he was made to feel really welcome."
Tommy McIntyre briefly worked with Doak during his time as Celtic's B team manager and has compared the Scottish star to Rooney, such is the impression he made..
"For someone so young to have that mental toughness is a great attribute to have," he explained. "The way he approached things was incredible. He has a real wining mentality and you could see that with the way he played. He was a joy to work with. He's a Scottish Rooney. That's what I said to Ange at Celtic, I told him I've never seen anything like Ben."
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