Ben Doak's £25m move to Bournemouth has highlighted Liverpool transfer approach that continues to pay dividends
Ben Doak of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's third goal with Harvey Elliott during the pre-season friendly match against Athletic Club Bilbao at Anfield on August 4 2025
Ben Doak of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's third goal with Harvey Elliott during the pre-season friendly match against Athletic Club Bilbao at Anfield on August 4 2025
(Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
And there goes another one. Ben Doak became the eighth Liverpool first-team squad player to leave this summer when he completed a £25million move to Premier League rivals Bournemouth on Monday evening.
For a teenager who has made only 10 senior appearances in three seasons at Anfield - and none since December 2023 - it could be deemed another canny piece of transfer business from the Reds, led by sporting director Richard Hughes.
But as with almost every departure of a young player, the sale of Doak has prompted mixed emotions for many Liverpool supporters.
There is often a strong connection forged with those who make the move up from Academy to the first team, whether they have come through the ranks from a tender age or, as was the case with Doak, brought in elsewhere for a minimal fee later in their development.
Everyone is aware these players are far from the finished article. Knowing when to keep hold of such talent and give it time to flourish or accept the offer on the table is simply too good to refuse is a call Liverpool have more often than not successfully made in recent years.
And the Reds have gained some significant profit from moving on younger players who either haven't quite managed to cement a regular place in the first-team squad or would be better served progressing elsewhere with regular minutes.
With Liverpool the Premier League champions and regarded as one of the best teams in the world, there's no shame in not quite making a consistent breakthrough into their glittering squad, particularly at such a relatively formative stage in a career.
Doak became the 19th player in the last five years aged 23 or under that, having been in the first-team squad with Liverpool, has then been sold for a fee.
The total outlay for those players was around £15m. The income gained? Almost £200m. Some quick maths highlights a whopping £185m profit.
Of course, some players - such as Tyler Morton, Jarell Quansah and Neco Williams - were true Academy graduates having been at Kirkby for years.
Others, such as Sepp van den Berg and Bobby Clark, were brought in for a fee and continued their development at either under-18 or U21 level. And then there was Fabio Carvalho, a teenager already prepared for direct first-team action when signed from Fulham in a £7.7m deal.
Nine of the departures have come since Hughes and head coach Arne Slot were put in position, with three - Doak, Morton and Quansah - happening in this window.
It's also worth bearing in mind that five - Tom Hill, Billy Koumetio, Max Woltman, Layton Stewart and Leighton Clarkson - were for undisclosed fees that haven't counted towards the overall income total.
That quintet managed nine Liverpool appearances between them, among 13 who failed to reach double figures. Indeed, the total of Liverpool outings from the 19 players combined comes to only 183. Quansah's 58 accounts for almost a third of that tally, with Neco Williams next up on 33.
And Liverpool are aware Quansah remains very much a burgeoning talent. As part of his move to Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth up to £35m, the Reds have had a buy-back clause inserted with it understood terms have already been pre-agreed for the player should he return to Merseyside.
The agreement with Doak, meanwhile, also has a buy-back clause, again giving Liverpool the option of being able to benefit from any significant progress in the player while operating away from Anfield.
But the Reds may not be finished there this summer. With speculation continuing over the future of Harvey Elliott, who is still only 22, there could be another youngster departing Liverpool for big money, while Lewis Koumas and Kaide Gordon are also being linked with a departure.
And the evidence suggests even when such younger players no longer form part of Liverpool's long-term first-team plans, they can still be hugely rewarding in a different way.