Bournemouth sign Ben Doak from Liverpool

Liverpool winger Ben Doak heads to Bournemouth for a £20m upfront fee plus £5m in add-ons as part of a busy summer market.

Bournemouth sign Ben Doak for £25m

Bournemouth have agreed a transfer with Liverpool for 19-year-old Ben Doak. The deal values the move at £20m upfront with up to £5m in add-ons and is expected to complete within 24 hours pending paperwork and a medical. Doak, who has six Scotland caps, spent last season on loan at Middlesbrough where he contributed three goals and seven assists in 24 appearances. He was left out of Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Bournemouth on Friday as talks continued. The move would give him a clearer path to regular first team football after making only 10 appearances for Liverpool since joining from Celtic in 2022. Bournemouth beat interest from Leeds and Porto to secure the signing.

Bournemouth have also been active this summer, selling Dango Ouattara to Brentford for £42.5m and seeing defenders Illia Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez depart for PSG, Real Madrid and Liverpool in a combined total of about £150m. The Cherries have added goalie Djordje Petrovic, left back Adrien Truffert, centre back Bafode Diakite and January return Eli Junior Kroupi, while Andoni Iraola says further changes will come before the window closes on 1 September. Plans for a further central defender and a striker to compete with Evanilson are also in motion, with Enes Unal discussed as an option though he remains out with a knee injury until late autumn.

Liverpool are in the middle of a high-stakes market push, using sales to fund a multi-year rebuild. Bournemouth are gambling on a quick return on investment by giving a promising youngster regular minutes, while also balancing a wide roster churn. The structure of Doak’s deal—a clear upfront fee with add-ons—reflects how clubs manage risk in a window where the price of potential often outpaces immediate need. The wider trend shows clubs at both ends of the table stretching budgets to reshape squads, which could redefine expectations for the coming season. The key question is whether these moves translate into tangible performance gains or simply signal a shift in ambition.

Highlights

The summer of big numbers continues to redefine the path for young talents in the top flight.