Tag: target

“I feel like I played all right … I don’t think I played that well,” Alex Scott says, doing himself something of a disservice as the Bristol City midfielder reflects on the night Manchester City came to town. A clip of Scott gliding into the box and away from Julián Álvarez and Riyad Mahrez and bursting between Kevin De Bruyne and Rico Lewis went viral. His modesty is indicative of his endearing personality and the standards he has set himself. “I wanted to show what I’ve been doing the past two years in the Championship against one of the best teams in the world.”

What the 19-year-old has been doing this season has earned him the English Football League young player of the year award, previously won by Brennan Johnson, Ollie Watkins and Jude Bellingham, an opponent in Scott’s youth days at Southampton and a source of inspiration. “I played against Jude a few times,” he says. “I remember playing in tournaments against Harvey Elliott quite a bit and Jamal Musiala, now of Bayern Munich, because we used to play Chelsea all the time. Players like Jude and Jamal who have gone on to the highest level possible, it gives motivation for young lads like myself who have played against them and seen how good they were as kids.”

Pep Guardiola gushed and Jack Grealish, one of Scott’s idols, was equally complimentary. Grealish later called Scott a “top, top talent” in a social media post. “I was speaking to him a little bit after the game and managed to get his shirt, so it was a special night all round,” Scott says. “To get the recognition from someone like him, it did mean a lot. He is friends with Andi [Weimann], who knows him from when they were at Villa together. I’m thankful to Andi for pulling me over to chat because I was a bit nervous.”

Scott’s teammate and flatmate, the striker Tommy Conway, another Bristol City youngster to shine this season, got Erling Haaland’s shirt. Scott was given the moniker the “Guernsey Grealish” because he also wears his socks and shin pads low. The versatile Scott – he has excelled as a wing-back, winger and at the base and tip of midfield – is the most-fouled player in the Championship this season. Sunderland’s Luke O’Nien resorted to drastic measures to stop him in February, jumping on Scott for an impromptu piggyback on halfway.

Scott laughs in the boardroom at Bristol City’s sleek training base and is at ease as he discusses everything from growing up on the Channel Islands and joining Guernsey FC for pre-season at 15 to winning the Under-19 European Championship with England and studying clips of Grealish, Bellingham and Frenkie de Jong. “That’s the level I want to be playing at one day,” he says. “I look at players with a similar playing style to me in terms of dribbling and breaking lines. You can watch all the clips you want but if you don’t put the work in on the grass then you’re not going to progress. I’m doing extras when I can and trying things at training that I know I need to work on, for example shooting, dribbling and passing on my left foot.”

Scott, who made his 100th senior appearance last weekend and became Guernsey’s youngest-ever player when making his debut against Haywards Heath Town aged 16 in September 2019, speaks with striking maturity. He joined Bristol City from Guernsey on a free three months later, after scoring a perfect hat-trick in a trial against Yate Town. He was fast-tracked to the first team and Scott’s ability to carve open defences with a killer pass or surging run have made him a fans’ favourite from virtually the moment Nigel Pearson handed him his debut aged 17. Pearson is adamant Scott will play for England’s senior side.

Even the way Scott talks about tactical fouls, while discussing playing in a deeper midfield role for his country, belies his years. “Sometimes it needs a player to almost hit someone a little bit and go through a player, in the nicest way possible. If you want to be a top midfielder who can play holding midfield, No 8 or a No 10, you need to have all those parts of your game.” Scott has always had a degree of bite. “I can get a bit feisty in a game if I need to. I think if you ask my parents they will say the same thing about when I was a young lad playing at home.”

Scott spent almost five years at Southampton and a season at Bournemouth. Then came a big decision and frank conversations with his parents, Steph and Noel. “My mum and dad knew I wasn’t happy playing,” Scott says. “They sat me down and said: ‘Bournemouth want you go to back, but do you want to do it?’ It was upsetting my mum a lot because she knew I wasn’t happy. When I got released from Southampton, I gave up a little bit, I lost interest a bit. From the age of eight to 13, I never really had a social life in Guernsey. I’d go to school on a Friday, fly to Southampton, Sunday I’d fly home and then I’d be at school again. I never really had a chance to enjoy my life as a 13-year-old kid, to go out and see my friends and play with them.

“You know what dads are like, they want you to play. But he knew I wasn’t happy. I told him straight and said: ‘I just want to play in Guernsey.’ He was fine with that and that took a bit of weight off my shoulders because it felt at times like I was almost playing for him a little bit when I was going over. I knew I hated it when I was flying over every weekend but I didn’t want to upset my dad or anything.”

His love for the game has certainly returned. “Monday Night Football, Champions League, Friday nights – it is on at all times in the household,” he says, smiling. “We’re either watching something on the telly or playing two-touch on the balcony.” He occasionally plays Xbox with his friends and elder brother, Callum. “Other than that, I’ll speak with my parents, the normal 19-year-old life, really.”

Scott never expected to be in this position. “I remember being in food tech at school, with my friends, speaking about these young players that were coming through and playing at the highest stage: Karamoko Dembélé, Louie Barry, players like that. Two years later, my first England [Under-18s] squad [in March 2021], I’m playing with those players and my friends are texting me like: ‘What are they actually like? What are they like off the pitch? How good are they?’

“Alfie Devine, who I now play with for England [Under-20s], is probably one of my closest mates. Being a Spurs fan I remember when he scored against Marine at 16. I was watching that with my dad at home and thinking: ‘He’s going to be the next one to come through at Spurs.’ Now I’m best mates with him at England level. That in itself is surreal for me.”

Now he is the subject of interest from the Premier League’s elite. Scott has told his mum, who has signed up to receive Bristol City notifications on Twitter, to treat transfer talk with caution. “My friends ask me: ‘Are you going here? Are you going here?’ I just ignore them, basically.”

Many Bristol City supporters are resigned to Saturday’s home match against Burnley being Scott’s last at Ashton Gate. His immediate focus, he says, is on making the England squad for May’s Under-20 World Cup or June’s Under-21 European Championship. Is the 2026 World Cup on his radar? “What’s that, three years from now … I’ll be 22. Why not?”

A little more than three years on from Isthmian League Division One South East trips with Guernsey to Sittingbourne and Cray Valley Paper Mills, where he played in front of a crowd of 56, Scott is determined to continue his impressive trajectory. “It has been a bit of a whirlwind few years,” he says. “I don’t really want to look back on how it’s gone, I just want to keep going.”