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Back when Alex Scott made his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach back then predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

That prediction turned out to be something of an underestimation.

Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions team.

His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true blast from the past, a story rarely told in the modern game.

Next stop? The World Cup?

“In my mind, there was zero possibility of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for England too,” the player said previously.

“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed completely for me and my family.”

So in what way did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself at this level?

Developing in non-league

His football journey has not been a conventional one.

He spent four and a half years in the Saints’ academy setup from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to fly from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.

Prior to his 13th birthday, though, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart wasn’t fully committed.

Instead, he opted to stay on the island and play for his local team.

“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.

“All I desired to chill at my home with my mates at the weekend because I missed nearly four and a half years of doing that. To have that slice of youth again was something I really needed.

“To gain some self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that got me to this point.”

When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their league match at Phoenix Sports.

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

“People have witnessed that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the way he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Returning to the professional game

Second-tier club Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s early progress after an promising start in adult football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.

“It was hectic,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the first team, which was a complete surprise.

“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a three goals. From that point a certainty for me to put pen to paper on a contract.”

Within a year and a half, still some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.

Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while in his teens, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his versatility and flexibility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was the standout performer.

Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.

“Without question, I believe he will represent England and I think he will progress to the top of the game,” Nigel Pearson, Scott’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.

Less than 90 days later, he joined the Cherries for a understood transfer fee of £25m.

Getting his major transfer

The midfielder endured a challenging debut campaign with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then being inconsistent of the starting XI.

His second campaign was equally affected, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for nearly several months.

“I had a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained Scott.

“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first five months.”

But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to regain fitness in time.

He went on to start five of the England U21s’ six games as they went on to win the competition in Slovakia, forming a formidable partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has gone on to impress for the first team with Thomas Tuchel.

And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for his club, playing in every game to help them to fifth in the standings.

“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” the player said recently.

“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for the game, improving every day, and hopefully I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”