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Ben Doak surpasses Salah on rise to Liverpool stardom with Arne Slot watching as he puts Vinicius Junior in his sights
Rising Scotland star Ben Doak has seen off Mo Salah and Kylian Mbappe in one key area as the wonderkid continues to catch the eye across the globe.
The 18-year-old joined Middlesbrough on loan late in the transfer window from Liverpool in search of regular football away from the Premier League giants and has quickly settled in the Championship - becoming a first-team regular after netting once and chipping in with three assists to assist in the promotion push for Michael Carrick's side. He will look to take that form onto the international stage this week after receiving another call up from Steve Clarke for the Nations League fixtures with Croatia and Poland.
And going into the double header, Doak has been revealed to be among the top attacking threats in the globe so far this season. He has been ranked as the top player under the age of 20 based on runs made with the ball at the opponents goal, followed by Feyenoord prospect Ibrahim Osman and Brondby's Clement Bischoff in the CIES Football Observatory stat bomb.
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The rankings of senior players put Doak the best in the world for surging into attacking positions - only narrowly trailing Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior despite playing just 10 games so far this season. The Brazilian tops the list before being followed by PSG star Bradley Barcola and Sporting talent Victor Gyokeres in fourth. The results see the wide man finish above Mbappe and Liverpool teammate Salah.
Arne Slot will be an interested observer of Doak's stats compared to Salah - with the Egyptian's contract set to expire at the end of the campaign. The Reds boss revealed he was keeping tabs on the teenager - and only allowed him to leave Merseyside to gain valuable first-team game time.
The Dutch boss said last month: "For Ben Doak it is similar (at Middlesbrough), he also went to a very good manager and a very good playing style. Do we want to play them on a regular basis, or once in a while keeping them with us? We have to be aware of our own interests, we can't let everyone go who doesn't play all the time.
"We have six forwards, two of them are injured and only have four left, with the schedule we have, that's sometimes a worry for me. Maybe we should bring Ben Doak back!"
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