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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, “there’s more to come from this boy.”

This prediction proved to be something of an understatement.

Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.

His ascent from non-league prodigy to possible England player is a proper blast from the past, a journey rarely told in the modern era.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, let alone featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” 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 Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?

Learning in the lower tiers

Scott’s path in football has not been a conventional one.

He was part of four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Before his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind was not in it.

Rather, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his hometown club.

“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling weekly was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.

“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that slice of youth back was a thing I definitely needed.

“To gain some confidence by coming back and playing island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that got me where I am today.”

At the age of 16, Scott became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.

“I had sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because he’s that good,” manager Tony Vance commented at the time.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Returning to the pro ranks

Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an promising beginning in adult football and gave him a trial in December 2019.

“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.

“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back and by Friday, I played for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a deal.”

In just a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his first-team debut versus the Hatters.

Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.

Thanks to his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a reference to City and national team attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.

“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.

Less than three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of 25 million pounds.

Securing his major transfer

The midfielder experienced a difficult debut campaign with the Cherries, waiting until the autumn to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself inconsistent of the starting XI.

His following season was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.

“I had a decent run at the close of last season, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said Scott.

“That felt like almost another setback and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first half.”

But he was then selected by England for the U21 Euros – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.

He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, forming a formidable understanding in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.

And he has started this season equally as strongly for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.

“Representing the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” Scott stated earlier this season.

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, getting better every day, and with luck I impress the England manager and get my chance.”