Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott talks England call-up, looking up to Declan Rice & Champions League dreams

Exclusive Interview 

Just six years ago, midfielder Alex Scott was playing non-league football for Guernsey FC on the Channel Island that he grew up on. Fast forward the clock 72 months and he is now one of the most exciting young midfielders in the Premier League at Bournemouth, and has received an England call-up. Scott has started 89% of the Cherries’ Premier League games this season as they make a push for European football, and has a current market value of €30 million.

He joined from Bristol City for €23m back in 2023, but his first two seasons on the south coast were disrupted by injury. However, this term has been the real breakthrough campaign for the 22-year-old. He has scored his first Premier League goals and his status in the game is improving with each passing matchday. This week, Scott sat down exclusively with Transfermarkt to discuss his development at Bournemouth, working with manager Andoni Iraola, his future ambitions, his idols in the game, his toughest opponents and more.

Alex Scott: Breakthrough season at Bournemouth & UCL ambitions

“It’s been a brilliant season for me personally,” admits a cheerful and relaxed Scott. “The first two seasons here were very disrupted with injuries and not being in the team as much. But this season’s been brilliant – I’ve started most of the games and felt really confident. I think I’ve definitely improved a lot.” Scott is one of the latest young talents to show meteoric development at Bournemouth. In the past 12 months alone, we have seen Dean Huijsen (€63m to Real Madrid), Milos Kerkez (€47m to Liverpool), Ilya Zabarnyi (€63m to PSG) and Antoine Semenyo (€72m to Manchester City) all move from the Cherries to some of Europe’s top clubs.

Being in that environment itself, Scott sheds light on just how Bournemouth develop talent: “I think first of all the recruitment team here are clearly very good. They know what players will suit the club and suit what the manager wants. Many players come in, fit in straight away and progress very quickly. Obviously the manager and coaching staff are also brilliant to work for and he knows how to get the best out of certain players. Even with Dean [Huijsen] when he first came in he wasn’t playing – I think Marcos [Senesi] got injured and then Dean came in and from there he goes to Real Madrid at the end of the season. I think all in all it’s just a great club to be at. We’re looking to progress as high as we can, but we can bring in young players, give them an opportunity and almost take a risk with them.”

So in the future, could Scott be another one on the conveyor belt who could get a move to Europe’s elite? “At some point, of course, I’d love to be playing Champions League football,” admits a humble Scott. “Obviously playing non-league just over six years ago, it’s all happened very quickly so I had to grow up very quickly. But that’s definitely helped me. Everyone wants to play at the highest level and be one of the best players in the world, in the league and play for their country. They’re definitely dreams of mine. They were dreams from when I was a kid. I’d also love to be playing in the major tournaments for England.

“However, right now, my sole focus is improving, and this is the perfect place for me at the minute with the game time I’m getting. I feel like I’ve improved week on week. I’m definitely in the best position I’ve ever been in my football career.” With Semenyo leaving in January, 19-year-old Rayan was brought in from Brazil as his replacement and has hit the ground running. “He’s been brilliant; it’s not normal for him to have done what he’s done,” reveals Scott with genuine surprise on his face. “Moving from a completely different country, he doesn’t even speak the language yet, and he’s come in and scored, got assists already. He’s settling in really well. He’s got Evanilson here who helps him out a lot with different things, getting to know people.

“Even us English lads try to teach him a bit of English. We’re only on the days of the week at the minute, but yeah, he’s learning and he’s just always laughing. With Antoine [Semenyo] leaving, which is a huge miss for us, considering how good he was – a massive player who scored in all the big moments – there was probably a bit of pressure on Rayan to come in and be that replacement. But it’s not affected him one bit; he’s come in and been unreal so we’re really happy to have him. Other young players are also doing great, like [Junior] Kroupi and we signed Alex Tóth, so the recruitment team know where to find the best young players in the world. And yeah, it’s a great club for them to progress and be given the opportunity.”

Alex Scott: My toughest opponents in the Premier League

“The best for me in midfield is probably Declan Rice. I think he’s just a machine,” explains Scott. League leaders Arsenal came to Bournemouth in December and won 3-2, with Rice himself scoring a brace. “He’s a powerhouse. He can defend, attack, and he’s good in the build-up. He progresses the ball so well. And obviously for me, when I’ve been in the England squad with him in the last camp, getting to know him as a person – he’s a really good guy and helped me so much when I went with the camp. We were always talking off the pitch after games and stuff. So he’s probably someone, especially in the Premier League, that I look up to. To get to his level one day would be a dream of mine. So yeah, Dec is probably the hardest that I’ve played against.

“To be fair, Moisés Caicedo is also tough. I’m maybe not directly against him as much as he’s more of a sitting midfielder. But you just know he’s got that factor where dribbling past him is always going to be hard. It’s similar to Tyler [Adams] that we have here in training. You never really want to go at him with the ball because you know how good he is tackling and defending one-v-one.” When it comes to midfielders that Scott looks up to and tries to take parts of their game, there were three names that sprung to mind.

“I think Jude Bellingham is definitely one. I think it’s hard not to say that as a midfielder. He can do it all, similar to Rice as well. As a midfielder now, you’ve got to be able to do everything, the defensive side, progression, and arriving in the box and scoring goals – they’re probably two of the best at doing that. And Pedri as well, I think he’s just a joy to watch, he makes the game look so easy. Those are probably my three favourite players. I wouldn’t say I model my game off theirs because everyone’s different, but I definitely watch their game and see how they’ve progressed, I think they’re probably the best three for me.”

Alex Scott: Working with Andoni Iraola

Manager Iraola was brought in from LaLiga side Rayo Vallecano in the summer of 2023, and despite having a tough start, has developed into one of Europe’s most respected coaches at Bournemouth. “He gives me loads of confidence, especially this season,” says Scott. “The trust to put me in from the first game of the season and I haven’t really missed too many games since means a lot. I think I’ve only not started two or three games this season in the Premier League. So to be given that trust, it’s down to me to repay him for that. Tactically, he has definitely improved me so much and opened my mind up to football a lot more. When I first signed it was hard. Coming from Bristol City, I was only 19.

“At that point I was given a lot of freedom. I was playing as a number 10 and it was almost just: go and do what you can do. We know how good you are and how good you can be, so go and do whatever feels right for you on the pitch. Then you take the step up to the Premier League, and tactically, it’s on a different level. The way we play here, it’s very direct, very aggressive, so I have had to work on loads of stuff, especially in the gym, to get my running stats up and things like that. The manager’s always been honest, and that’s huge for me, so I couldn’t be more grateful to him. He gave me my Premier League debut as well and signed me for the club so I’ll definitely be grateful to him forever.”

An strong press is very important to the way Bournemouth play. From setting traps to jumping at the right moments to the distances between players, everything is worked on. “I’d say one day a week we do specific tactical work on the opposition,” reveals Scott. “We’ll watch the video and see where we can beat them and how to set up our press and triggers. When I signed, there would be a lot more conversations with me off the pitch and videos to help me understand. But once you understand, it’s pretty simple and everyone’s on the same page. At first it was definitely the hardest thing for me to get to grips with – the tempo and how aggressive they wanted everyone to press. As a number eight it’s a tough one in the build-up for the opposition, knowing when to jump, when not to jump and how aggressive you need to be with that jump.”

Alex Scott: England call-up & training with Three Lions

Back in November, Scott received the career-defining moment of his first call-up for the England national team. “Thomas Tuchel texted me asking if I was available for a FaceTime, and then phoned me about five minutes later,” explained Scott. “I got the FaceTime. I was a bit nervous about answering the call. Even at that point, I didn’t know if I was being called up or not. He might have been calling to say, look, you’re going to miss out this time. But yeah, I was obviously over the moon and couldn’t wait to tell my friends, my family. They were all really happy for me, and I was so excited – I couldn’t wait to get there.

“I knew a few of the lads already, which definitely helped when I first went in, but the whole group did so much for me and helped me a lot when I went in on that first day. It was tough at first – the level of training was very high but it was a great experience and fingers crossed there’s many more to come.” Despite the call-up, Scott didn’t quite manage to get on the pitch itself to make his England debut, but training with the Three Lions alone was a hell of an experience for the young midfielder.

Asked who impressed the most in training, Scott revealed: “[Marcus] Rashford’s shooting: I’ve never seen anything like that before – it was so good. Harry Kane, just overall leadership, everything he does off the pitch, on the pitch. You can tell he’s a massive presence within that team. And then I’d probably say Jude [Bellingham], to be honest, I think he’s got everything. We’ve seen that for the last four years or so. He’s the same age as me as well, so to see what he’s done in such a short amount of time is pretty inspiring. To be there up close, get to know him, and watch him on the training pitch and in the games as well, I think he’s a different level.”

Alex Scott: ‘Guernsey Grealish’ & Pep Guardiola praise

Back in 2023, Bristol City met Man City in the FA Cup. The Sky Blues ran out 3-0 victors but after the game City boss Pep Guardiola was effusive in his praise for 19-year-old Robins midfielder Scott. “He is an unbelievable player,” said the Spaniard. These words naturally meant a lot to the teenager. “The Guardiola thing was crazy,” revealed Scott. “They beat us 3-0. I knew I played alright but it’s when I got home and saw everything online and yeah it was sort of blowing up. Obviously what he said it goes a long way for at the time a 19-year-old Championship player. To hear that from for me probably the best manager of all time was pretty surreal. I think they won the treble that year as well. So to have said we played them in the year they won the treble was pretty good.”

Back in his Bristol City days, with his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his low socks rolled, he picked up the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish. “I think when I was younger, obviously I liked Grealish a lot,” chuckled Scott. “It wasn’t exactly my position, but I just think the style, the dribbling style, when he was at Aston Villa, he had that free role to almost go about and create, and it was great to watch.”

Alex Scott: Can Bournemouth get European football?

After 26 games, Bournemouth currently sit in eighth place in the Premier League, and are in the running to make Europe next season for the very first time as a club. “I wouldn’t say it’s a target, no,” admits Scott when asked if the club are actively aiming to secure European football.”We obviously want to finish as high as possible and if that results in us getting Europe, then it’s amazing. It would be amazing for us, the fans, the club, everyone, but it’s not a target we set out at the start of the season or even speak about really. For us, it’s just about winning games. I’s a crazy league, especially this season – you can go on a short run and it boosts you right back up.

“There was a point where we were struggling. We hadn’t won in 11 games and we were down in 14th, 15th and we’ve gone on a decent run now, we’ve not lost in seven I think and we’re up to eighth place so it’s on the up. We’ve got to carry that on until the end of the season and get as many wins as we can and hopefully we get Europe because I know the fans will love that and us as players as will definitely enjoy playing against different opposition.” We finished the interview by asking Scott about his current Transfermarkt market value of €30m. “It’s probably too much to be fair,” the humble midfielder laughed. “No, I’ll take that of course. It’s big compliment.”