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Liverpool's Ben Doak Middlesbrough recall stance after tongue in cheek Arne Slot joke

dominic shaw
·3-min read
Middlesbrough's Liverpool loanee Ben Doak <i>(Image: Tom Banks)</i>
Middlesbrough's Liverpool loanee Ben Doak (Image: Tom Banks)

ARNE Slot made a tongue in cheek joke about "bringing Ben Doak back" but there's no expectation that Liverpool will recall the winger from his Middlesbrough loan spell in January.

Slot is delighted with how the early months of Doak's spell on Teesside have played out, with Liverpool having identified Boro as the ideal place for the teenage flanker to continue his development.

Recall clauses are standard in loan deals so the parent club are covered if, for whatever reason, the move isn't working out as hoped or there's an injury crisis.

But there's no expectation that Liverpool will cut short Doak's spell in the Championship. The 18-year-old has quickly established himself as a key figure in Michael Carrick's side and, crucially for Liverpool, is playing regular football at a high level.

Doak is very highly rated on Merseyside but first team opportunities would have been extremely hard to come by had he stayed at Anfield this season.

It would take a significant change of circumstances to prompt Liverpool into considering a January recall for Doak, which is currently extremely unlikely.

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Slot is currently without a few of his attacking players, with Federico Chiesa, Diogo Jota and Harvey Elliott all missing for tonight's Carabao Cup fourth round tie against Brighton.

In the past, Jurgen Klopp turned to his youngsters in domestic cup competitions but Liverpool opted to send several of their most promising academy stars out on loan on the summer.

Slot said this week: "In certain situations you'd prefer to keep them here because then they can training with you and you can implement in the best possible way your playing style, but if that means they hardly play then it doesn't lead to the progression you are hoping for. That is the balance we always try to find.

"Some players we let on loan, Stefan Bajcetic is a good example of that, then you hope to see he plays a lot and has already played a few games. It's pleasing that he went to a very good manager in Pepijn Lijnders that knows this club also. 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!"

Carrick and Boro identified Doak as a loan target early in the summer and monitored his situation before making a move late in the window when it became clear Liverpool would sanction a loan.

Several Premier League and Championship clubs were interested but Doak and Liverpool agreed that a move to Boro was the best option.

The latest in a string of impressive Doak displays came in Boro's 3-3 draw at Norwich on Sunday.

Carrick said afterwards: "Ben is dangerous, we know that, we know what he's capable of.

"He's still young and we still have to be patient with him and help him develop."