Alex Scott is interested in a move to Chelsea despite Bournemouth insisting the midfielder is not for sale this summer, according to reports.
Scott has attracted interest from a host of Premier League clubs after helping Bournemouth secure Europa League football last season.
The midfielder was almost named in England’s World Cup squad, but Thomas Tuchel instead opted for Jordan Henderson and Kobbie Mainoo as his back-ups for Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson.
Despite that, Scott was one of five players who joined the England squad’s preparation camp in the United States ahead of the tournament, with interest in his services for next season only heightening since then.
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Arsenal had an approach for the Englishman turned down in June, while Manchester United are also said to be interested in the 22-year-old.
Scott still has two years left on his contract at Bournemouth, but has turned down the offer of a new deal from the Cherries.
Chelsea are also interested in a deal for Scott, but saw their opening £64million bid rejected immediately by Bournemouth.
It remains to be seen if the Blues will test the Cherries’ resolve again, but reports from The Standard suggest that Scott would be keen on a move to Stamford Bridge.
Bournemouth are thought to value Scott at around £80m, but have no intention of letting go of the player this summer and will reportedly not welcome any follow-up bids from Chelsea.
Scott has been a mainstay in Bournemouth’s side since he joined from Bristol City back in 2023 for £25m.
The Englishman missed only one league game last campaign, notching up three goals and an assist under new Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola.
Former Premier League striker Jay Bothroyd believes that a move to Chelsea and the opportunity to work under Xabi Alonso could be perfect for Scott’s career development.
‘If I’m looking at his options, I would say Arsenal, and I would say Chelsea, I think he’s more likely to play more regularly there and kind of step in and maybe be a mainstay,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘Norgaard hasn’t featured for Arsenal, Zubimendi is more of a defensive player and Rice played so many games last year and had a tough World Cup as well.
‘He’s put loads of minutes in there and he’s going to want time off and Arsenal need to hit the ground running. So someone like Alex Scott who can come straight in and play first game of the season, they would be looking at that.
‘But I would look at Chelsea. They’re doing their business early, Xabi Alonso was a world-class midfielder in his day and they’ve only got Caicedo.
‘Fernandez might be trying to move; Lavia has been injury-prone, so I think that was probably the one that I would look at if I were him.’
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