Liverpool reject Crystal Palace’s £15m bid for in-form star… just days after turning down Real Madrid’s £20m offer for Trent Alexander-Arnold

Crystal Palace have rejected an opening bid of £15 million for Liverpool winger Ben Doak.

The Scotland international impressed while on loan to Championship club Middlesbrough, putting him on the wishlist of Premier League clubs.

Liverpool have had a number of proposals from Premier League and European sides showing interest in the 19-year-old.

However, the level of bidding has so far remained well below Liverpool’s valuation.

However, Liverpool believe he is worth much more than the £15 million paid by Palace and are said to be demanding around £25 million for Doak.

It is understood the Reds are also taking into account the awards made in the last 12 months for other young Championship strikers, such as Wilson Odobert’s £30m move from Burnley to Tottenham and Crysencio Summerville’s £25m transfer from Leeds to West Ham.

Liverpool have already rejected a bid from Real Madrid for Trent Alexander-Arnold this week

Thanks to his excellent form, Doak became champion player of the month in November

Palace have not given up on signing Doak and could return to the table for him this month.

Until offers get closer to those figures, they are content to leave Doak to continue his development under Michael Carrick at Boro, where he has excelled and has scored twice in 20 games as they push for promotion.

Doak’s impressive form of late has seen Doak claim the Championship Player of the Month award for November, providing five assists in that time.

Doak arrived at Anfield in March 2022 after showing his talents at Celtic as a 16-year-old, with Liverpool paying the Scottish giants £600,000 for his signature.

Given the wealth of competition in wide areas at Liverpool, with Salah, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa all to compete with, the Scot has struggled to break into the first team since his arrival. Before that he only earned ten senior appearances. are away on loan.

Liverpool will take on Carrick’s former club Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday, having lost just once so far.

The Reds, who have built a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League, are bidding to win their first title under new manager Arne Slot.

They enter January with many question marks over the futures of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk in particular, both of whom are out of contract this summer.

Slot will do everything he can to keep his camp together as Liverpool sit at the top of the Premier League

Doak has impressed under Boro boss Michael Carrick (right) and has made 20 league appearances so far

Real Madrid, who have been closely linked with the free transfer of Alexander-Arnold at the end of the season, made a £20 million bid for the England right-back in a bid to lure him to the Bernabeu in January – an offer rejected by Liverpool.

Meanwhile, it has been a torrid start to the season for the Red Devils, who continue to struggle for results since Erik ten Hag’s dismissal in October.

Slot admitted on Friday he felt ‘sympathy’ for Man United’s new boss Ruben Amorim and believes the Portuguese will ‘eventually get the best out of them’ despite Liverpool’s bitter rivals languishing in 14th place in the Premier League.

‘It’s a big game. In my opinion, they have much better players than the rankings may indicate,” Slot said during his press conference.

‘It may take a while before Ruben can get the most out of the players, but they will definitely rise.

‘I think every manager sympathizes with every other manager because we all know how much pressure this job brings; that is no different for him and for me.

‘This is a job with pressure and we like that too, otherwise we wouldn’t be doing this. He has done so well at Sporting. He has a good team, so he will ultimately get the best out of them.”

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace take on Chelsea at Selhurst Park after their narrow 2-1 win over bottom-of-the-table Southampton last time out.