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Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.

Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has just received his maiden call-up to the full England team.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a true blast from the past, a journey seldom told in the modern era.

What’s next? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the top division and playing for England as well,” Scott stated in a recent interview.

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

So in what way did Alex Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?

Learning in non-league

Scott’s football journey has not been a conventional one.

He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his heart wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he opted to remain on the island and play for his hometown club.

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

“I just wanted to chill at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of youth back was something I really needed.

“Building some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was massive for me. It was probably the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”

When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager the coach commented at the time.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”

Making a comeback to the pro ranks

Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander Steve Lansdown – had been tracking his development after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.

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

“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”

Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.

He made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – such was his versatility and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.

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

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I think he’ll play for his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the game,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at the club, remarked previously.

Less than three months after, he signed for Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of £25m.

Getting his major transfer

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

His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost four months.

“There was quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.

“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”

But he was then selected by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness in time.

He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they went on to win the tournament in the host nation, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.

And he has started the current campaign just as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to guide them to the top five in the table.

“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” the player said earlier this season.

“The responsibility is mine, I must keep progressing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, getting better day on day, and with luck I catch the eye of the England manager and get my chance.”