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When Alex Scott made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”

That statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.

His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern game.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” the player stated previously.

“It has been a incredible five or six years of my life, and circumstances have transformed drastically for myself and my loved ones.”

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

Learning in non-league

His football journey has been far from a typical one.

He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.

Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a time, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.

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

“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.

“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost several years of doing that. To have that slice of youth back was something I really needed.

“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing island football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”

When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half replacement in their league match at the opposition.

“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager the coach stated at the time.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Making a comeback to the pro ranks

Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.

“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.

“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”

Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut against the Hatters.

He went on to make eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was the standout performer.

With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s best young player honour, was selected in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I think he will represent his country and I think he will progress to the pinnacle of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.

Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.

Securing his big move

Scott experienced a challenging debut campaign with the club, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.

His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly four months.

“There was a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.

“That felt like yet another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad year for the first half.”

But he was then called up by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.

He started five of the England U21s’ six matches as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.

And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to the top five in the table.

“To play for the national team would be among the most special moments of my life,” the player stated recently.

“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”