It was well over two years ago that Pep Guardiola first brought the name of then-Bristol City midfielder Alex Scott to the wider footballing world.
He had one word to describe the performance of the 19-year-old, who had glided around the Ashton Gate pitch in a way his team-mates could not despite their 3-0 FA Cup defeat.
“He is an unbelievable player, unbelievable,” he said. Pep may be never knowingly understated, but few in the west country disagreed.
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Scott was already on Premier League clubs’ radar but this took things up a notch. Newcastle were linked with a summer move but instead Bournemouth, their televised opponents on Sunday, stole a march on them and Wolves – perhaps aided by goodwill over previous moves for Lloyd Kelly and Antoine Semenyo. Their £25m outlay landed them a talent freshly crowned EFL Young Player of the Year ahead of one Amad Diallo.
The hype around the midfielder has never quite returned to those levels. There have been glimpses of his talent but while Semenyo has matured to blossom in the Premier League, injury has stunted Scott’s development to the point he had not managed to start three consecutive league matches for the Cherries until April of this year.
It has been quite the turnaround since. Scott has found himself in the line-up for 10 of the last 13 games either side of the summer break, including all four this season.
Some of that has been down to the misfortune of others, with injury keeping Ryan Christie sidelined for several months, but Scott has more than earned his chance given his own enforced absences to date. More importantly, the ‘Guernsey Grealish’ has grasped the opportunity with both hands.
Scott has been quietly improving throughout that consistent run of game time, but particularly caught the eye with one of his best performances in a Bournemouth shirt in last weekend’s win over Brighton.
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Watch free highlights of Scott’s goal in Bournemouth’s 2-1 win over Brighton last weekend
His fine 20-yard opener took the headlines but Scott also completed a match-topping four tackles and the second-most pressures of any player, despite coming off midway through the second half. At the time of his substitution last weekend, he was well on course to register the most intensive runs of anyone on the pitch.
Some might have begun to mistake Scott for the energetic Scotsman he has replaced. Christie was the focal point of Andoni Iraola’s high-pressing machine before his enforced absence, but Scott has increased the regularity of his own presses by more than 50 per cent on last season to almost match his rival’s figures.
Still only 22, Scott has made his name as a silky playmaker and initially looked destined for a career as a No 10, but his teeth were first cut at Bristol City at right wing-back under the experienced management of Nigel Pearson.
At the time it seemed to limit his talent but Pearson’s lateral thinking taught the then-teenager the other side of the game and is now helping him thrive in world football’s most demanding league – arguably even more exacting under the demands of Iraola.
It will take more than this to restore the fanfare around Scott, but it is certainly a start. His talent was never in doubt but now the inevitable rust has subsided, the intangible spark which once caught Guardiola’s eye is back.
Scott’s strike against Brighton came with his supposedly weaker left foot. You would not know it from its purity, but it appeared to catch even Iraola out.
“He has very good finishing – normally more right foot, but today with his left,” the head coach said. “But I think it’s good. He can add goals, assists. He has a very good touch and his ball striking is normally quite clean.
“That’s why sometimes he takes set-pieces. And if he can finish like today, much better.”
That is the one thing still to tick off; that Brighton goal was only his third goal involvement in 23 Bournemouth starts, and his first since December 2023.
He is still not quite creating opportunities to add to that tally with the same regularity of Christie, but if he continues on this trajectory he will match that metric too.
A few more games rivalling the performance of last weekend and it might not be fitness keeping the Scotsman out of the starting line-up.
Watch Bournemouth vs Newcastle live on Sky Sports Premier League from 1pm on Sunday, kick-off 2pm.
