When it comes to recruitment at the highest level of the game it is often the intangibles of a player that prove to be the greatest separators.
Is he a good trainer? What happens when he is left out? Does he get on well with team-mates? Can he listen and take on board tactical information? How does he manage disappointment? And can he handle pressure?
In the case of Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, it’s his intangibles report card, just as much as his passing, dribbling and all-action play on the pitch, that has Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur circling with intent this summer, with the player valued around £80million.
‘He’s an absolute diamond off the pitch. He’s really, really good and he’s one that you’d just want around the group,’ Ian Foster, who managed Scott with England Under 19s and Under 20s, tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘He’s such a good kid, and I think he’s still under the radar for me.’
Brian Tinnion chuckles when those comments are put to him. When he was Bristol City technical director he brought Scott to Ashton Gate from Guernsey FC, who play in the Isthmian League.
‘The best thing about him is his attitude,’ Tinnion explains. ‘His attitude to play, the attitude to training and he was never one bit of bother from the minute he walked in the building until the minute we sold him to Bournemouth. He was the absolute dream young person to work with.’
Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott is being chased by Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham this summer
The former Bristol City man is now valued at around £80million
The intangibles weren’t always enough, however, and more concrete hurdles almost killed Scott’s career. His lack of height and physicality as a youngster saw Southampton cast him aside. He had a year at Bournemouth, fell out of love with the game and went back home to Guernsey, where he became their youngest ever player.
He decided to take one last swing at making it in England, with a trial at Bristol City. This was likely his last chance, and he had to take it.
‘We organised a friendly game for him against a London academy who wanted to play us,’ Tinnion says. ‘So Alex came across for the week and he scored a perfect hat-trick in 35 minutes – left foot, right foot, header. I’m like, “wow, who’s this lad?” We’d seen and watched him, but watching him close up like this, he was outstanding.’
He rose to the occasion with England, too. It was Scott’s header, coming off the bench in a semi-final against Italy, that kept the Young Lions on their path to winning the Under 19s Euros in 2022. And it was Scott who started alongside Elliot Anderson in last summer’s Under 21s Euros final, helping to throw Germany completely off their game.
So, to answer the questions posed earlier: Is he a good trainer? Among the very best. What happens when he is left out? He often changes games at the highest level from the bench. Does he get on well with team-mates? Nobody has a bad word to say about him. Can he listen and take on board tactical information? Managers spoken to for this piece insist he can take on the most detailed of briefs.
What about handling disappointment? Well, after joining Bournemouth in 2023 for £25m, a knee injury restricted him to three games, then a year later he tore his meniscus. He broke his jaw on the eve of the Under 21s Euros, and came off injured and in tears in the final.
He bounced back in the season just gone to get Bournemouth into Europe and still didn’t get final call for this summer’s World Cup squad, though was on Thomas Tuchel’s radar enough to join the Florida training camp.
And can he handle pressure? Without any hesitation, yes.
Scott and Elliot Anderson, who is on the brink of a £116m move to Man City, were a superb pair in England’s Under 21s Euros win last year
Scott (left) has impressed Thomas Tuchel to the point he was called up to England’s pre-World Cup training camp in Florida
Now to Scott’s appeal on the pitch. Partially this comes from the versatility that makes him an attractive target to many of the game’s elite clubs. Having been first deployed as a wing-back by Bristol City, Scott has moved inside, playing as a deeper-lying No 6, a box-to-box No 8, and an attack-minded No 10 just behind a striker.
Where Manchester United are targeting a rhythm-setting defensive midfielder to complement Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes, Arsenal are seeking ball-carriers to help get them up the pitch quicker in transition. It is why Morgan Rogers and Jeremy Monga are also among their targets.
Deceptively strong, Scott showed last season what an impressive driver of the ball he is, with 21 per cent of his carries deemed to be progressive – stats providers define this as taking the ball at least five metres closer to the opposition goal. That was the fourth-highest mark of any defensive midfielder in Europe’s top five leagues last season.
Under Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth and Lee Carsley with England Under 21s, Scott has more recently been tasked with a deeper role, working as a rhythm disruptor. He did that to great effect, particularly alongside Anderson, one of his best friends in football, on international duty.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who values players who can play in multiple positions such as Mikel Merino, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and any number of his centre backs who can also play at full back, got a first-hand example of Scott’s class in April, when Bournemouth came to the Emirates Stadium and played the Gunners off the park in a 2-1 victory, with Scott getting the winner.
‘He has played for us as a No 10, a No 8; today as a No 6 and he has added a lot of defensive work and a lot of duel-winning to the ability he has on the ball,’ Iraola explained after that match. ‘I’m very happy, because he is becoming a very, very complete player.’
For Foster, it is important that Scott continues to rotate through the roles he can play, rather than keeping him stuck in one position. ‘Whether it’s 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, I wouldn’t pigeonhole Alex really in terms of a number on his back,’ he says. ‘I just think he can affect the game really positively. I think he’s got really high levels of game understanding and he just knows what’s required.
‘He’s an old-fashioned all-around midfield player. If you would have asked what Paul Scholes and Roy Keane were, they were central midfield players and I think Alex is that. He can get up and down, he can hold midfield, he can burst into the box, he can score and create. I wouldn’t pigeonhole him. I think he’s an all-round, really, really good midfield player.’
Scott’s ability to dribble through the midfield is of particular interest to Arsenal, who need players that can break down opposition defences
Scott’s defensive ability is a lot better than his slight frame would make you expect
This summer transfer window will be defined by the market for central midfielders.
Anderson is on the cusp of sealing a £116m move to Manchester City, Newcastle United want £100m for Sandro Tonali, West Ham are demanding £85m for Mateus Fernandes and both Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea) and Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle) would fetch enormous fees if either was allowed to leave.
And the stats show Scott has already vaulted himself into the conversation among the Premier League’s best midfielders, able to turn a match on his own.
Among current players in the Premier League, only Anderson (306) won possession more times than Scott (195) last season, while he ranked third behind Anderson (80) and Guimaraes (75) for fouls won.
He made more clearances last season than Arsenal pair Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi (both 78) and departed Manchester United anchor Casemiro (73) and ranked third for completed dribbles (29) among central midfielders, again behind Anderson (50) and Morgan Gibbs-White (30).
‘He’s very, very brave, in terms of taking the ball under the pressure,’ Foster adds. ‘He’s got the ability as a midfield player to just beat you one-v-one, he’s very creative.’
Coaches are also quick to point to Scott’s impact in both boxes, in terms of winning headers and duels at set-pieces, as an area of the game supporters often overlook due to his Jack Grealish-like frame and appearance.
But Scott’s situation, in Bournemouth’s view at least, is clear. He’s not for sale. With two years left on his deal, and new boss Marco Rose eager to build his whole project around Scott, Bournemouth have no appetite to sell, and they are desperate to tie him down to a new deal that will increase his price tag.
Scott scores the winner against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in April
Tuchel is becoming increasingly enamoured with the man once dubbed the ‘Guernsey Grealish’
That is unlikely to deter United or Arsenal, who are growing increasingly optimistic of prising him away from the south coast. Scott’s step-sister Maya Le Tissier is captain of United’s women’s team. Her role in any pursuit may yet prove crucial.
Crystal Palace, West Ham and Tottenham, the team he grew up supporting, all looked at Scott in January 2023, before passing up and allowing Bournemouth to get him a few months later.
Scott is loved by Nigel Pearson, who gave him his debut at Bristol City; loved by Foster, and has a massive fan in Carsley. Iraola is smitten with him, and may yet push him up Liverpool’s shopping list, and Tuchel is becoming increasingly enamoured with the man once dubbed the ‘Guernsey Grealish’.
United and Arsenal know those footballing minds can’t all be wrong when it comes to the intangibles. So, let the bidding begin.
