Bournemouth have signed Scotland international Ben Doak from Liverpool on a five-year contract for £20 million plus £5m in potential add-ons.
Winger Doak, 19, made 10 appearances for the Reds, last playing in the Premier League against Chelsea on the opening day of the 2023/24 season.
“It feels like the perfect fit,” Doak told Bournemouth’s website, describing himself as “buzzing”. “The team play very nice football. It’s fast and it really suits my game, so I felt like I couldn’t say no.”
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Ben Doak transfer: Bournemouth buy prospect
“Ben is an exciting young talent who has shown his quality at the highest level despite his age,” said Tiago Pinto, Bournemouth’s head of football operations.
“He brings pace and energy that will fit our model well and we’re thoroughly looking forward to helping him fulfil his potential.”
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has faced a summer of upheaval, with his goalkeeper last season, Kepa Arrizabalaga, joining Arsenal from Chelsea on a permanent basis and left-back Milos Kerkez leaving for Liverpool for £40m in June.
Dean Huijsen headed to Real Madrid for £50 million and fellow centre-half Illia Zabarnyi joined Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth a guaranteed £54.5m days before the start of the season.
Forward Dango Ouattara then joined Brentford for £42.5m – a record for the Bees – having directly contributed to 18 goals in 81 top-flight games for the Cherries.
Speaking before their late 4-2 defeat at Liverpool in the opening game of the top-flight season, Iraola said Bournemouth “need to adjust as quickly as we can”.
“I hope we can do it quickly and smoothly and every player comes and gives his best, but maybe it won’t be like that,” he added.
The best of Ben Doak against Athletic Club ✨ pic.twitter.com/S7WN6f0ehf
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 5, 2025
Ben Doak stats: Celtic, Middlesbrough, Scotland
Celtic gave Doak his Scottish Premiership debut as a 16-year-old in 2022 shortly before Liverpool signed him for around £600,000.
Prolific at youth level for the club, he made his league debut as a substitute that December against Aston Villa, becoming the youngest Scottish player to feature in the Premier League.
A loan move to Middlesbrough for the 2024/25 season yielded three goals, seven assists and seven bookings in the Championship, including five assists in five games in November.
The former youth international was selected in Scotland’s provisional squad for Euro 2024 but missed out through injury.
Scotland gave Doak his senior debut against Poland in the Nations League in November. He played in all of their matches during that campaign, setting up John McGinn’s opener in a 2-1 win in Poland in November.
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Ben Doak injury history
A knee injury in December 2023 ended Doak’s season and ruled him out of a combined 41 matches for Liverpool and Scotland.
Thigh surgery also kept Doak out of much of the second half of last season for Boro, returning to Liverpool for rehabilitation.
“Not the way I wanted to finish this season off but what a time I’ve had here,” he said at the time, thanking Middlesbrough’s players, staff and fans.
“I will be forever grateful and wish everyone at the club the best of luck for the future.”
Bournemouth transfers 2025/26
As well as Doak, Bournemouth’s summer transfer window signings have comprised goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic for £25m from Chelsea, left-back Adrien Truffert, who came from Rennes for £11.4m fee plus £3m in potential add-ons, and Bafode Diakite, a centre-back signed from Lille for a figure that could rise to more than £34m.
Diakite is Bournemouth’s second-most expensive ever signing, following the £40.2m paid to Porto for forward Evanilson in 2024.
Petrovic, Truffert and Diakite made their debuts against Liverpool at Anfield.
