Our 'human blur' ready for first team after humiliating world’s most expensive defender

Liverpool's biggest problem at the moment is the ongoing contract situation surrounding Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

All three are out of contract at the end of the season and Liverpool are playing with fire by allowing them to get very close to January 1 - when they can sign pre-contract agreements with foreign clubs - without tying them down to new deals.

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Replacing just one of these titans would be difficult in normal circumstances, but Liverpool's revolving Sporting Director door leaves the club in a position where they could potentially have to try to replace all three.

It helps in this situation that Liverpool have some emerging talents coming through at just the right time, who may not be ready to fully replace any of the three, but are definitely ready to take the step up and impact first-team games.

Ben Doak is one of those players.

Since signing for Liverpool for just £600k in 2022, Doak has become the youngest Scottish player to make his debut in the Premier League, played four times for his national team and is currently ripping the Championship to shreds on loan at Middlesborough. Not bad for a 19-year-old who spent much of last season out with a knee injury.

And now he's passed yet another audition with an excellent performance in Scotland's 1-0 win over Croatia in the Nations League during the week.

Doak roasts Gvardiol: “I don’t take notice of reputations”

Doak is not a player short on confidence. He was Scotland’s best attacking player against a Croatia side who boast one of the world’s best defenders in Gvardiol.

£77m Gvardiol against £600k Doak. There should only be one winner on paper.

Doak, described as a 'human blur' by the BBC afterwards, created Scotland’s winning goal with a sharp run down the right, before crossing the ball which eventually ended up at the feet of John McGinn.

He had the highest expected goals + assists for Scotland, with 0.55. He had six touches in the opposition box and created the most chances for his side.

He also caused Gvardiol all kinds of trouble, and wasn’t afraid to big himself up after the game.

“Gvardiol’s one of the best in the world, isn’t he?” Doak told the Daily Record. “So it’s good to test yourself against players of that calibre.

"We both had our moments when we got the better of each other, but I’ve loved both games against him.

“When I went past him early in the first half I didn’t realise it had gone through his legs, I just flicked it and hoped it’d come out the other side, which it did. We were unfortunate not to score from that one, but it was another moment I enjoyed.

“I don’t see faces on the park, I just see a kit and a blank face. I don’t take notice of reputations. I just believe that if I’m good enough to be on the pitch then I should be up to whoever I’m against."

In a weird way, Doak is actually behind schedule. The knee injury he suffered in December 2023 meant he missed the rest of last season. As players tired towards the end of Jurgen Klopp’s reign, Doak would have been a perfect option off the bench when chasing a win.

Instead, he was at home nursing an MCL injury, jealous of the game time Klopp was giving to other young players.

“Before I got the injury I played a fair few games [for the first team], I got my first starts,” Doak told the Scotland national team’s YouTube channel during the summer.

“It was pretty difficult for young players to get into the squad at that time.

“Obviously as the season went on all the young lads at Liverpool started to do well, scoring a few goals here and there, so it was gutting to see that."

Is Ben Doak a potential Salah replacement?

Salah is one of Liverpool’s greatest-ever players and consistently puts in world class performances alongside having an incredible goal-scoring record.

He will be free to speak to foreign clubs and potentially sign a pre-contract agreement from January 1, and the closer that date gets, the more Reds fans are fearing he will make the move to Saudi Arabia.

Sporting Director Richard Hughes has a difficult job because on one hand he needs to try to come to a contract agreement with Salah, but at the same time he needs to be preparing for the eventuality that he does leave.

With no natural replacement for Salah on the right-hand side currently in the first-team squad, there is an opportunity for Doak to stake his claim for the spot.

His performance against Gvardiol bodes extremely well for the future, as well as his performances at Middlesborough this season, which have earned rave reviews. He has one goal and three assists in his eight starts so far, but it's his ability to drive past players and create dangerous opportunities that has excited fans the most.

The stats show he's among the best in the league at what he does, as well.

Doak is in the 96th percentile in the Championship for both chances created per 90 (2.75) and expected assists per 90 (0.30). None of his peers can match his 8.90 touches in the opposition box per 90. All of this illustrates a player who is constantly involved in the play and who, more importantly, is constantly affecting the play.

While Doak has a long way to go to get close to the standards that Salah has set at Liverpool, the early signs are extremely good.

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