Middlesbrough are a Premier League club and I have moved here to help them realise it
Ben Doak says Middlesbrough are a Premier League club and he is here to help them realise the ambition to get back there.
Boro are currently spending their eighth season outside of the top-flight but remain as ambitious as ever to get back. That was seen in a summer transfer window in which Doak's arrival on loan from Liverpool was one of eight new arrivals the club orchestrated while showing their determination to hold onto existing key players too.
It's well-known that Boro officials and head coach Michael Carrick have lofty aspirations to get Boro back to the Premier League this season, and the unexpected capture of Doak, 18, is seen as a potential game-changer in their quest to do that. Certainly not lacking in confidence or ability, the winger has made his ambitions while at the Riverside clear.
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In his first club interview, the Liverpool loanee said: “It feels great to be here and I cannot wait to get out there in front of the fans and get my career up and running. Hopefully I can do well. This is a Premier League club, really, and I can imagine the fans are desperate to get back up there.
"I knew a few of the lads here and I spoke to the gaffer as well, and that’s really what convinced me. I know how big the club is and how big the fanbase is. There were no bad elements to coming here. Time will tell. Hopefully I can just go out there and do what I do, please the fans with my performances and please myself.
"My aim this season is to just improve as a player, and you can only really do that by playing games regularly. So hopefully I can give good performances that ultimately warrant my place in the team."
As with many of Boro's summer signings, they had to work hard to convince him on the Teesside move over alternative offers elsewhere. Doak is understood to have had seven other options, including two Premier League clubs. Though he knew Hayden Hackney and more so Tommy Conway from Scotland under-21 duty, it was ultimately Carrick who sold the Boro move to him.
“The gaffer just told me what to expect from him and from the team, and for me as well," Doak said. "He’s a really good guy, really calm, and he convinced me to come here, basically. Tommy didn’t really need to convince me to come here, but he’s a great guy and it’s going to be good to play more with him here this season."
Doak's move came as a surprise even to Boro's recruitment team. A player they were already well-aware of, there was no planning to bring him in this summer, simply because there was no expectation that he would be allowed to leave Liverpool.
That changed when Arne Slot's side signed Federico Chiesa late in the window and, with Doak out injured for all of the second half of last season with a knee injury, the decision was taken at Anfield to get the 18-year-old prospect out for regular game-time. Boro moved quickly to ensure they won the race and are said to be very excited about his potential.
On what fans can expect of him during his temporary stay at the club, the winger said: “I’m very direct. I like to get at people and look to create chances. I’ll always work hard too. I just get on the pitch and run. I’ll be just happy to be playing.
"Obviously coming from such a big club, it can be difficult to get games. So I’m grateful to be here and can’t wait to get out there. I head away on international duty first and that should give me that bit of extra time to get a little bit of extra match sharpness and focus before I properly come in and get started."