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Bournemouth star
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England manager Thomas Tuchel has been known to throw a few surprises in with his squad announcements and Friday’s news was no exception, with an inclusion for Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott. The 22-year-old talent has been in fine form for the Cherries in the Premier League this season and obviously has a long-term admirer in Tuchel. “He had an excellent [U21] Euros,” explained Tuchel on the national team website. “He won the title and Lee [Carsley] was full of praise. He did an excellent job in midfield together with Elliot Anderson who is now a regular starter for us. It was very impressive but then he took another step and became a very regular starter now for Bournemouth and they are in the top third of the league. They are overperforming constantly.”
Indeed, Scott has been an ever-present member of a Bournemouth side that have marched to fifth place to the surprise of most within English football. Many predicted a difficult transition season ahead for Andoni Iraola’s squad after the club sold no less than seven senior players in the summer transfer window for a combined €238 million - including important defenders Ilya Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez as well as attacking talent Dango Ouattara. However, Bournemouth have bounced back in fantastic fashion and Scott has played a big role in that.
In the club’s first 10 league games of the season, Scott has started all but one game as he’s quickly settled in as Iraola’s go-to holding midfielder. With tremendous close control and an impressive ability to dribble by opposing defenders, Scott offers a degree of composure and safety in the middle of the park that would often be reserved for a player with more experience under their belt. And when coupled with an excellent range of passing and a natural gift to dictate attacking plays in the final third, Scott is quickly developing into one of the Premier League’s most promising central midfielders. According to Opta, no Bournemouth midfielder has made more dribbles than the 22-year-old talent or won more ground duels than the new England international. Which only underlines Scott’s ability to thrive in his half just as well as he does in the opposing one.
Such news will undoubtedly be vindication for the young midfielder, who has had to fight for his spot in Bournemouth’s first team since joining the club for €23m in the summer of 2023. In his first season at the club a knee injury limited his ability to hit the ground running in the English top-flight and saw him start just 11 Premier League games, while coming off the bench on 12 occasions. His second season at the club also saw injury limit his impression on the first team, with a muscle tear ruling the young midfielder out for 16 consecutive league games. As such, Scott only made his third start for the Cherries in late February. However, Iraola seemingly had every faith in the young talent and by the end of the season Scott was a regular starter for the club.
Having first broken through at Bristol City in the English Championship in 2021, Scott has had his fair share of setbacks but that hasn’t stopped the young talent from rising to every challenge and in that time his market value has steadily rose to an impressive €25m. The midfielder thrived for the Robins in the English second tier and while injuries may have delayed his success at Bournemouth, this England call up only confirms what many have known for quite some time: Scott is an exceptional Premier League prospect and it seems highly unlikely that this will be the first and last time Tuchel turns to him to help bolster his England squad. Perhaps, with a little more time and continued success with Bournemouth, he could even become a starter for the Three Lions in years to come.
