'I walked away from my club to join Liverpool because I wanted to play at elite level'

Ben Doak has been speaking about the reason behind his move to Liverpool, and said that his decision was fuelled by a desire to train and compete at an elite level.

Doak joined as a 16-year-old two and a half years ago, with the Reds paying Celtic a compensation fee of around £600,000 ($785,000) for the youngster's services.

, who is back in the Scotland squad for the upcoming games against Croatia and Portugal, explained the thinking behind his decision to join Liverpool in 2022.

“I wasn’t really thinking about playing with Scotland at that point (when Doak left Celtic for Liverpool)," Doak said. "To be honest, I felt like that was the right move at the time to go down south and go and play and train at an elite level.

“Everyone knows how good the Liverpool squad has been and how they are doing currently. They’re top of the league, so I didn’t see any cons to going there.”

Doak made his Liverpool debut in November 2022, coming on as a substitute in a League Cup game against Derby. A month later, he became the youngest Scot to play in the Premier League just a month after celebrating his 17th birthday.

The teenager, now 18, played a total of five times for Liverpool during the 2022-23 season and made another five appearances last season before it was decided this summer that his development was best served away from Anfield.

Doak has figured five times during a loan spell with Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough, and

“I’m loving it,” Doak said of life in the Championship. “I've played more football in the last week than I did in seven months. It's good to get out there and start enjoying myself again. Starting games week in, week out helps you improve so much. Playing games here and there, you're never going to see the best of any player.”

Doak could make his first start for Scotland against Croatia after missing Euro 2024 through injury, and he reflected on his disappointing summer ahead of Saturday's game in Zagreb.

“It was gutting, of course,” he said of missing the Euros. “The injury wasn't too serious, but I just came back a little bit too early. Watching the games just kind of drove me on more to try and get in the squad. I'd like to think I would have made a bit of a difference.”