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He was touted as a future star, but injuries and the form of Mohamed Salah have seen his route blocked to first team action, wa spell at Championship side Middlesbrough on loan last season.

Doak was seen at one time as the long-term attacking solution to when Salah departs, but a £25m fee after ten senior appearances across all competitions during his time at the club represents good business from Liverpool’s end, especially as this coming season didn’t appear to offer any more of a path to the first team.

In the five years up to the 2023/24 financial year, Liverpool had made a profit of £150m on player sales.



In comparison to their Premier League rivals, that had them tenth, with Chelsea leading the way at £509m, followed by Manchester City at £437m and Brighton & Hove Albion at £300m.

Making a profit on players who have been acquired from other clubs previously requires the sale figure to be over and above the remaining book value that sits on the balance sheet.

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When a player is signed, the guaranteed fee is spread across the length of the contract signed via a process called amortisation, which is now capped at five years.

For example, a £50m signing would be amortised at £10m per year which decreases with every year passed of the contract.

If the player was sold for £40m after two years then the accounting profit would be £10m the remaining book value would have been £30m.

Liverpool have made significant profit this summer, and while the sales of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz may lead the way in terms of value, the actual main profit has come from academy sales.

If Doak departs for £25m he would follow Kelleher to Brentford (£18m), Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen (£35m), Morton to Olympique Lyonnais (£15m), Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid (£10m) and Nat Phillips to West Bromwich Albion (£2m).

Academy graduates don’t carry book value as they are a product of the club’s own system.

That means that the profit the Reds can book, not taking into account any sell-on figures due from transfers, would be £105m, 70 per cent of the profit made in the five years up to 2024 in just one summer.

It is testament to Liverpool’s ability to keep the stock of their fringe players high that they have been able to achieve such a sum, and it should be no surprise that the influx of cash, which can be booked in its entirety this financial year when it comes to profit, has supercharged the club’s business when it comes to bringing in new talent.

Chelsea’s conveyor belt of talent from Cobham was a big factor in them being PSR compliant and for Liverpool, they will be hoping that their own academy graduates who can’t quite break through continue to deliver major profits in years to come.

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