Celtic supporters may have enjoyed the recent sight of academy talent Rocco Vata emerging as a first-team option for Brendan Rodgers this year.
The 18-year-old talent has been in five matchday squads for the senior team in 2024 and made two appearances – scoring against Buckie Thistle in the SFA Cup.
Hopefully, the teenage whiz will be able to earn more minutes on the pitch over the weeks and months to come as he looks to translate his impressive academy form, with 12 goals in 15 Lowland League matches this season, over to the first-team.
The Hoops will be hoping that Vata can emerge as a regular for Rodgers eventually and that they can benefit on the pitch from his development.
Whereas, they were not able to do that with one of the last homegrown wonderkids to come through their academy as Ben Doak made the jump to join Liverpool in the Premier League.
Ben Doak's market value at Celtic
The Reds snapped him up from the Hoops in March 2022 for a reported compensation fee of £600k, as he had yet to sign a professional contract with the Scottish giants – due to being 16 at the time.
He had already made two first-team appearances under Ange Postecoglou in the Scottish Premiership during the 2021/22 campaign but that was not enough to convince him to commit his future to the club.
Doak, who was once described as "explosive" by talent scout Jacek Kulig, was spotted by Liverpool and they moved to take him away from Scotland in 2022 to join their academy system.
Ben Doak's current market value at Liverpool
It is hard to argue against that being a fantastic decision for the teenage dynamo as Jurgen Klopp has offered him first-team opportunities and his market value has soared over the last two years.
At the time of writing (12/02/2024), Transfermarkt value Doak at a whopping €10m, which is around £8.5m, and that is a staggering increase of 1267% on the £600k that the English giants paid for him.
The 18-year-old gem, who has been sidelined with a meniscus tear since December, made five senior appearances for Liverpool during the first half of the season, with three of those coming in the Europa League.
Appearances
Three
Starts
Three
Dribbles completed
Eight
Goals
Zero
Assists
Zero
Stats via Sofascore
Interestingly, Doak has played more first-team games (ten) for Liverpool than Vata (six) has for Celtic in all competitions, despite the Irish youngster being seven months older.
The Scotland youth international, who was once hailed as a natural "force" by Klopp, has been shown a clear pathway into the senior squad on Merseyside and his soaring market value reflects his impressive progress down south.
This suggests that there is no reason for Doak to regret his decision to make the move away from Celtic as his career appears to be heading in the right direction at this moment in time.
Hopefully, the teenage whiz will return from injury and pick up where he left off as a genuine option for Liverpool's first-team, with a view to earning a greater role in the future.
Meanwhile, the Hoops may watch on with a tinge of sadness, whilst they should still be pleased to see him doing well, as they lost out on having the homegrown dynamo as part of their own team moving forward.