Bournemouth close to signing Ben Doak from Liverpool in £25m deal

Bournemouth are closing in on a deal to sign the Liverpool forward Ben Doak for £25m. The 19-year-old is poised to deliver a huge profit for Liverpool on the £600,000 they paid Celtic in training compensation in 2022.

The Scotland international has been linked with umpteen Premier League clubs and Porto and the proposed switch comes with Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara poised to join Brentford for up to £42.5m.

Doak’s Liverpool future originally looked bright under Jürgen Klopp but a combination of the German’s departure, injury and the form of Mohamed Salah meant it felt increasingly inevitable he would need to kickstart his career elsewhere. Doak spent last season on loan in the Championship at Middlesbrough but did not feature after late January having sustained a thigh injury which required surgery. Arne Slot has supplemented his Liverpool squad with heavy spending this summer.

Doak was an unused substitute for last weekend’s Community Shield at Wembley. Coincidentally, Liverpool and Bournemouth meet to open the Premier League season on Friday evening.

After Bournemouth completed the signing of the French centre back Bafode Diakité from Lille for £34.5m this week, Andoni Iraola has turned attention to attacking positions. Doak’s arrival comes with Luis Sinisterra expected to move on loan to Cruzeiro.

Bayern Munich have opened talks with Chelsea over a deal for Christopher Nkunku. The France forward has fallen out of favour and is one of several attackers expected to leave Stamford Bridge before the transfer window shuts.

Chelsea need to move players out before pressing ahead with moves for Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho and RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons. They hope to negotiate a lower fee for Garnacho, who is valued at £50m by United. The Argentina winger wants to move to Stamford Bridge.

View image in fullscreen Christopher Nkunku has fallen out of favour at Chelsea after struggling for form and fitness. Photograph: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Maresca has rejigged his attack this summer, signing Liam Delap, João Pedro, Estêvão Willian and Jamie Gittens. Noni Madueke has left for Arsenal. Nkunku has struggled for form and fitness since joining from Leipzig for £52m two years ago and Bayern are pushing for a loan deal with an option to buy. It remains to be seen whether Chelsea will press for a permanent deal, even if that means taking a loss.

Bayern are looking to strengthen their attack after releasing Thomas Müller, selling Kingsley Coman and being hit by Jamal Musiala sustaining a long-term injury during the Club World Cup. They looked at Nkunku in January but were put off by his £60m valuation. The Bundesliga champions have revived their interest after having a bid rejected for Stuttgart’s Nick Woltemade.

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Chelsea are also open to offers for Nicolas Jackson, who has interest from Newcastle, and Tyrique George. They are waiting for buyers to emerge for Raheem Sterling and Carney Chukwuemeka.

Maresca wants a centre-back after losing Levi Colwill to a knee injury. The recruitment team are yet to activate any emergency plans and will move for defensive reinforcements only if a suitable player becomes available. Maresca, though, has made it clear he feels his squad does not contain a suitable replacement for Colwill.

“You know how important Levi has been for us last season, for the way we want to play,” the head coach said before Sunday’s opening game at home to Crystal Palace. “We said many times that we are able to create chances and to attack in the right way if we are able to build in the right way. Levi was a huge part of our buildup and now he’s out.

“We are trying to find a solution internally but the club know exactly what I think and we’ll see what happens. I think we need a central defender. We are looking for an internal solution but as I said, the club know exactly what I think.”

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