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Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager back then assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”

That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his first summons to the senior Three Lions team.

His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern game.

What’s next? A major tournament?

“In my mind, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and representing the national team as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.

“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”

But how did Alex Scott, known fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?

Learning in the lower tiers

Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.

He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Before he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries gave Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his mind wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he opted to remain on Guernsey and play for his hometown club.

“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.

“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood again was a thing I really needed.

“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important things that led me to this point.”

When he was just 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a 57th-minute substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance stated at the time.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Making a comeback to the pro ranks

Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking his development after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.

“The whole experience was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.

“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in London, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”

Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.

Scott went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being deployed as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.

Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to Manchester City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at the club, stated previously.

Less than 90 days after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.

Getting his major transfer

Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.

His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for almost several months.

“I had a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.

“It was yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”

But he was then called up by England for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.

He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.

And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.

“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott said recently.

“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, getting better day on day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”