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Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “there’s more to come from this boy.”

That statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.

Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his first summons to the senior Three Lions squad.

His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey seldom seen in the modern game.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and playing for England too,” the player said in a recent interview.

“It has been a crazy half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my family.”

But in what way did Alex Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?

Learning in the lower tiers

Scott’s path in football has been far from a conventional one.

He spent over four years in the Saints’ academy setup starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and play for the Saints’ youth teams.

Before 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 while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.

“All I desired to relax at home with my mates at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that little bit of childhood back was a thing I definitely needed.

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

When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he was introduced as a 57th-minute replacement in their league fixture at Phoenix Sports.

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

“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 professional game

Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.

“Midweek I played for his local side in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and netted a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a deal.”

In just 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut against the Hatters.

He made 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.

Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.

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

“Without question, I think he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, remarked last year.

Within 90 days later, he signed for the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.

Getting his major transfer

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

His second campaign was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.

“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.

“It was almost another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”

But he was then called up by England 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 went on to win the tournament in the host nation, developing a formidable partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.

And he has started this season just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to help them to fifth in the standings.

“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player stated earlier this season.

“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”