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When the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

This prediction proved to be a bit of an understatement.

Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions team.

His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a proper blast from the past, a story seldom seen in the modern era.

What’s next? A major tournament?

“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a pro footballer, let alone playing in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” Scott said previously.

“It’s been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”

But how did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?

Developing in the lower tiers

His football journey has not been a conventional one.

He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.

Before his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.

Rather, he chose to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.

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

“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I definitely required.

“To gain a bit of confidence by returning and playing local football was huge for me. It was probably one of the most important things that led me to this point.”

At the age of 16, Scott became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.

“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.

“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”

Returning to the pro ranks

Championship side Bristol City – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an promising beginning in men’s football and arranged a try-out in December 2019.

“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled the player. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.

“Midweek I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”

Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was making his senior debut versus the Hatters.

Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while in his teens, often being used as a wide defender – and occasionally further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.

With his skill to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named Bristol City’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at the club, stated last year.

Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a reported fee of 25 million pounds.

Securing his major transfer

The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the club, having to wait until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.

His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly four months.

“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.

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

But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit in time.

He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a strong partnership in midfield with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.

And he has started the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the standings.

“Representing the national team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.

“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”