A future at Liverpool? The next Salah?
Doak may be 19 but he already has a huge CV of coaches he has worked under in a short space of time.
He has a former Premier League winner in Carrick as his current mentor, Ange Postecoglou gave the forward his Celtic first-team debut, while Jurgen Klopp did the same at Liverpool in November 2022.
Klopp’s Liverpool were occasionally known as “mentality monsters” and it is no surprise that Doak fit into the first-team environment.
The German was overheard describing the winger as “the present and future of Scotland” during a training session last year – and Doak’s mentality has been noticed for a while.
“He was never a player who was messing around and carrying on,” says Anderson. “He was very grounded, always wanted to learn and always listening.”
That mentality is needed in the Championship. As defenders notice his pace, the Scot has learned to meet aggression head strong.
After Doak was on the receiving end of a nasty challenge by Oxford Utd’s Elliott Moore last month, Carrick said the forward “has to learn to deal with it”.
“Even at that level it could be aggressive were high tackles and knocks and because he was such a fast player he would obviously get fouled – no matter how hard the tackle, he would just get straight back up and roll his socks up.
“He had that aggressive side to him in the right way, mentality-wise he was very strong at such a young age. So it’s no surprise he’s doing so well, he’s got that mentality.”
It is that mentality that could stand Doak in good stead, particularly at Liverpool. The Scottish international is likely to get a go at staking a place in Slot’s first-team next summer – with the position of right winger under pressure by Mohamed Salah’s contract situation.
“There’s that talk of him doing so well at Middlesbrough that he could be the replacement for Salah – these are huge boots to fill,” says Anderson.
“But with his mentality and his trajectory and where he’s going right now, the sky is the limit for him. He has the potential to go on and be a world-class player – you’re hearing ex-players and pundits saying the same thing. If they’re seeing it…
With Middlesbrough and Scotland, it is clear Doak is not too dissimilar from Salah in terms of style: a winger who enjoys setting up team-mates just as much as scoring.
But heed the reminder that Doak still has a long way to go – and that he is still a little boy compared to the potential he possesses.
“With the Scotland team, I can see he’s very passionate as well – his celebrations when scoring, or he’s assisting, he still celebrates like he scores a goal,” says Anderson.
“There are definitely qualities from a nine-year-old that he still has now.”
Watch Burnley vs Middlesbrough live on Sky Sports this Friday from 7pm, kick-off 8pm
