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When the young midfielder made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then assured, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”

This prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.

Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full Three Lions squad.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper blast from the past, a story rarely seen in the modern game.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England as well,” Scott stated previously.

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

But in what way did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself here?

Developing in the lower tiers

His path in football has not been a conventional one.

He spent over four years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.

Before he turned 13, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.

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

“My form had dipped and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.

“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of childhood back was something I definitely required.

“To gain some self-belief by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. It was perhaps one of the most important factors that got me to this point.”

When he was just 16, Scott made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their league match at the opposition.

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the side because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented back then.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession 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 the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an promising beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in December 2019.

“It was hectic,” recalled the player. “The first day I joined the under-18s, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.

“On the Wednesday I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to sign a contract.”

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

Scott made 83 league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.

Thanks to his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s best XI and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the game,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.

Less than 90 days after, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.

Getting his major transfer

The midfielder endured a difficult debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.

His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for nearly several months.

“There was a decent run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained Scott.

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

But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.

He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.

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

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

“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, keep enjoying the game, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and get my chance.”