Across the seven games in which Bournemouth took points off Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea last season, it is telling that Alex Scott was nearly ever-present, playing 625 of a possible 630 minutes.

Scott was one of Andoni Iraola’s most valued and trusted players in an historic season for the club. Clearly, he made a mark on their opponents too. Coveted by the elite, he could become the latest Premier League midfielder to make a high-profile move.

His future at Bournemouth is uncertain but it seems increasingly clear that the 22-year-old, nicknamed the ‘Guernsey Grealish’ as a teenager and described by Pep Guardiola as an “unbelievable player” as far back as 2023, has a bright future ahead of him.

‘Scrawny-looking kid’ turned duel-winner

Scott stands out for his technical ability. He boasts excellent close control and is comfortable in tight spaces. With his socks slung low around his ankles, and a capacity to glide away from defenders, the Jack Grealish comparisons are easy to understand.

Scott counts Grealish among his admirers. Like Guardiola, Grealish was left impressed by his performance in an FA Cup meeting between Manchester City and Bristol City when he was 19. “Top, top talent,” wrote Grealish on social media after the game.

The technical qualities that stood out to Guardiola and Grealish that day had convinced Bristol City to pluck him from non-league Guernsey in the Channel Islands only a few years earlier in a move overseen by then director of youth recruitment Brian Tinnion.

Nigel Pearson, the manager who subsequently gave Scott his Championship debut, remembers him arriving as a “scrawny-looking youngster” with “incredible” talent. Before long, he was predicting Scott would one day represent England.

Scott is still waiting on his first cap. But he is a European Championship winner with England’s U19s and U21s and a first senior call-up in November was followed by an invitation from Thomas Tuchel to join their pre-World Cup training camp in June.

Back at Bristol City, Scott handled the jump to the Championship impressively, making 35 starts in the competition in the 2021/22 campaign, then bettering his total with 40 in 2022/23. A £25m move to Bournemouth demanded another step up physically.

Scott was hindered by injuries in his first two seasons. He arrived at the Vitality Stadium in 2023 with a knee problem, then sustained another early in his second campaign at the club.

But his physical improvement has been evident across his time in the Premier League. Last season, he was finally deemed ready to become a regular starter and only missed one game for Bournemouth over the course of the campaign.

His ground duel success rate of 56 per cent was up from 47 per cent in his first season at Bournemouth and put him above Elliot Anderson, Bruno Guimaraes and Martin Zubimendi.

Scott’s aerial success rate followed a similar trajectory, up from 44 per cent in his first campaign in the Premier League to 54 per cent last season. “He has really filled out and matured as a player,” noted his former boss Pearson to Sky Sports.

Scott can now be viewed as one of the best ball-winners in the division in his position. Last season, only Anderson and Wolves’ Andre won possession more times among midfielders. Scott also ranked in the top 10 for interceptions and duels won.

Ball-carrying and off-the-ball runs

Scott brought the same dynamism to Bournemouth’s attack, with Iraola’s team set up to allow as many opportunities as possible for him to utilise another of his strengths: his ball-carrying ability.

As well as being comfortable under pressure, Scott excels at attacking space, meaning the emphasis placed on maximising transitions and counters under Iraola suited his game perfectly.

Scott’s total of 431 carries was the eighth-highest by a midfielder in the Premier League last season and around half of those carries were categorised by Opta as progressive, underlining his capacity to take his team up the pitch.

Scott’s physical intensity shines through in his numbers relating to off-the-ball runs. According to Opta, Scott made the sixth-most supporting runs of all Premier League players last season.

One of the best examples came with his winning goal against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in April, when Scott, having scanned his surroundings and identified an opportunity, charged through the middle of the pitch to be in a position to collect Evanilson’s flick from David Brooks’s pass before beating David Raya.

Iraola said Scott was becoming a “very complete” player after that game and there is evidence of that completeness in the tracking data. Scott’s commitment to contributing at both ends of the pitch can be seen in the fact that he made more runs tracking back into position than any other Premier League player last term.

Scott also made the third-most high-speed runs in the division, and covered an incredible 27.6km at high speed, underlining the extent of his intensity as a box-to-box midfielder.

Best yet to come?

Iraola talked up Scott’s ability to play in different positions last season. “He is playing as a six, as an eight, as a 10.” And although the bulk of his minutes have come as an eight, his versatility is another strength. Scott was even used as a wing-back at Bristol City.

Scott’s Premier League readiness is another factor which adds to his appeal. He has played 89 games in the competition over the last three seasons. But at only 22, there is also room for growth.

The main area for improvement is in front of goal.

Scott has only contributed four goals and three assists in those 89 Premier League appearances so far. Efforts to improve his output have been ongoing since his time in the second tier with Bristol City, when his numbers were similarly modest.

“For him to be an eight or a 10, and for people to talk about him as an eight or a 10, he needed better numbers,” Jason Euell, Pearson’s assistant at Bristol City, told Sky Sports. “He wasn’t getting enough assists and he wasn’t scoring enough goals.

“He was doing it all in training, but never replicating it in games. When it was approaching one of the summer tournaments, I said, ‘Look, it’s great you’ve got so many Championship games under your belt, but if your numbers don’t start changing, someone else is going to sneak up behind you and take your place.'”

Scott was able to fend off that competition. He played an important role in the U19 and U21 European Championship successes in 2022 and 2025. And while there remains a need for more goals and assists, Scott has proved he has plenty to offer.