Like many big clubs operating in unfashionable leagues, Celtic find themselves struggling to compete with the top teams in Europe these days. The financial gap between the richest few leagues and the rest of the continent has become so vast that clubs with our budget can only dream of ever being able to win the European Cup again.
Huge attendances, worldwide support and famous history are insignificant commodities compared to eye watering TV deals, enormous commerical sponsorships and nation state consortiums. In the absence of such luxuries, the obvious way that clubs like ours can look to narrow the gap is through the youth academy. If you can’t afford to buy the best talent, then why not produce it, right?
We have seen the fruits of developing homegrown talent at times, with the likes of Callum McGregor and James Forrest becoming club legends, while Kieran Tierney currently represents our record sale. Notwithstanding those success stories, the last few years have seen the richest clubs extend their monopoly on elite talent beyond the senior transfer market and they have begun to swallow up the best youth prospects from around the world.
Celtic have lost youth team talents such as Liam Morrison and Barry Hepburn to Bayern Munich before either made a competitive first team appearance in the hoops. Meanwhile, U16 star Josh Adam was snapped up by Manchester City from Celtic in 2020. On each occasion, a nominal compensation fee was paid.
Rich clubs have also targeted those in the 16-18 year old category, where players have made a handful of first team appearances after rising through the youth ranks (often viewed as still being in the transition from a youth to senior player). Real Madrid have just completed the signing of a 16 year old Brazilian, prodigy Endrick, from Palmeiras. The young striker has scored three goals in just seven Brazilian Serie A appearances, but at least his club will receive the equivalent of tens of millions of pounds in return for bequeathing Madrid with their starlet’s potential.
Celtic have not been so lucky in similar situations. was handed a professional contract by the Bhoys as a 15 year old. The Norwegian was then loaned out to Ross County, where he was given an opportunity to play first team football and then featured in pre season friendlies for Celtic. A highly rated defender, there were high hopes that he could make the grade Glasgow… until Leeds United swooped to secure him for an undisclosed (believed to be small) fee just days after his 18th birthday.
This year, the frustrating story has been that of Ben Doak. The outstanding winger was a product of Lennoxtown, graduating to the first team squad on Boxing Day 2021 – a month after his 16th birthday. On 29 January 2022, Doak made his senior debut, when he played the final 25 minutes of Celtic’s 1-0 win over Dundee United in the SPFL; a massive game in the title race, which was dramatically won in injury time. The Manager showed even more faith in the player, when he introduced Doak in the closing stages of the Glasgow Derby triumph over theRangers on 2 February. To hand such a young player an opportunity to sample that atmosphere and global spotlight showed that there would be opportunities for him to play at Paradise.
Nevertheless, Doak signed for Liverpool in March 2022. That is a choice which nobody can begrudge a player making. He has gone to a top team, who have won both the Champions League and English Premier League in recent memory. Instead, the sense of annoyance stems from the fact that Celtic only received training compensation of around £600,000.
On 9 November, Doak made his debut for Liverpool when he came on for the last quarter of an EFL Cup win against Derby County at Anfield. Five days later, he signed his first professional contract with the Reds and last night he made his Premier League debut when he replaced Darwin Nunez in the 88th minute of Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Aston Villa. Aged 17 years and 45 days old, Ben Doak is the youngest Scottish player to ever appear in a Premier League match.
Many Celtic fans are now scratching their heads wondering how we can ever compete at the top table of football if we can’t afford to sign the top players, and rich teams are frequently able to poach our youth talents on the cheap. Ambitious footballers will always want to go to the highest level possible, but clubs like Celtic need to be properly renumerated if they are to lose their stars of the future. There should at least be a clause whereby a proper transfer fee is paid based on senior appearances/performances.
Anything less amounts to robbery.
