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When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his manager back then predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”

This statement proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

Today 22 years old and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the midfielder has earned his maiden call-up to the senior Three Lions team.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true throwback, a journey rarely seen in the modern era.

Next stop? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, let alone featuring in the top division and representing the national team as well,” the player said previously.

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

So how did Scott, referred to fondly as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up at this level?

Learning 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 travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

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

Rather, he chose to stay on Guernsey and play for his local team.

“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.

“I just wanted to chill at my home with my friends at the weekend because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I definitely required.

“Building a bit of confidence by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be probably the most crucial things that led me to this point.”

At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated at the time.

“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s pure quality.”

Returning to the professional game

Second-tier club the Robins – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring Scott’s development after an promising start in men’s football and arranged a try-out in late 2019.

“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I was with the senior squad, which was a total surprise.

“On the Wednesday I featured for his local side in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and netted a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”

Within a year and a half, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut versus the Hatters.

Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings 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 adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and playing out of position he was their best player.

With his ability to carry the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 season he won the second tier’s best young player honour, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was named the club’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s boss at the club, stated last year.

Less than three months after, he signed for the Cherries for a understood fee of 25 million pounds.

Getting his major transfer

The midfielder experienced a challenging first season with the club, having to wait until the autumn to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.

His following season was equally disrupted, this time by a surgery 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 he.

“It was yet another setback and the year was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”

But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in get himself fit for the tournament.

He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with Elliot Anderson, who himself has excelled for the senior side with the national coach.

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

“To play for the national team would be one of the proudest moments of my life,” the player said recently.

“It’s down to me, I must continue developing as a footballer, keep enjoying football, improving day on day, and hopefully I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”