Alex Scott: How Bournemouth midfielder wanted by Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd flourished under Andoni Iraola

Across the seven games in which Bournemouth took points off Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea last season, it is telling that Alex Scott was nearly ever-present, playing 625 of a possible 630 minutes.

Scott was one of Andoni Iraola's most valued and trusted players in an historic season for the club. Clearly, he made a mark on their opponents too. Coveted by the elite, he could become the latest Premier League midfielder to make a high-profile move.

His future at Bournemouth is uncertain but it seems increasingly clear that the 22-year-old, nicknamed the 'Guernsey Grealish' as a teenager and described by Pep Guardiola as an "unbelievable player" as far back as 2023, has a bright future ahead of him.

Scott stands out for his technical ability. He boasts excellent close control and is comfortable in tight spaces. With his socks slung low around his ankles, and a capacity to glide away from defenders, the Jack Grealish comparisons are easy to understand.

Scott counts Grealish among his admirers. Like Guardiola, Grealish was left impressed by his performance in an FA Cup meeting between Manchester City and Bristol City when he was 19. "Top, top talent," wrote Grealish on social media after the game.

The technical qualities that stood out to Guardiola and Grealish that day had convinced Bristol City to pluck him from non-league Guernsey in the Channel Islands only a few years earlier in a move overseen by then director of youth recruitment Brian Tinnion.

Nigel Pearson, the manager who subsequently gave Scott his Championship debut, remembers him arriving as a "scrawny-looking youngster" with "incredible" talent. Before long, he was predicting Scott would one day represent England.

Scott is still waiting on his first cap. But he is a European Championship winner with England's U19s and U21s and a first senior call-up in November was followed by an invitation from Thomas Tuchel to join their pre-World Cup training camp in June.

Back at Bristol City, Scott handled the jump to the Championship impressively, making 35 starts in the competition in the 2021/22 campaign, then bettering his total with 40 in 2022/23. A £25m move to Bournemouth demanded another step up physically.

Scott was hindered by injuries in his first two seasons. He arrived at the Vitality Stadium in 2023 with a knee problem, then sustained another early in his second campaign at the club.

But his physical improvement has been evident across his time in the Premier League. Last season, he was finally deemed ready to become a regular starter and only missed one game for Bournemouth over the course of the campaign.

His ground duel success rate of 56 per cent was up from 47 per cent in his first season at Bournemouth and put him above Elliot Anderson, Bruno Guimaraes and Martin Zubimendi.