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Back when the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before a mere 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

This prediction turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.

Today aged 22 and a Premier League regular with the Cherries, the playmaker has earned his maiden summons to the full England team.

His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true throwback, a story seldom told in the modern era.

What’s next? The World Cup?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of making it as a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for the national team too,” Scott said previously.

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

So how did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, find himself at this level?

Learning in non-league

His path in football has not been a conventional one.

He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, skipping school every Friday to travel by air from his island home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.

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

Rather, he chose to stay on the island and turn out for his local team.

“My form had dipped and flying over every week was becoming a bit too much,” he explained.

“All I desired to relax at my home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost several years of that experience. Getting that little bit of youth back was a thing I really required.

“Building a bit of self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”

At the age of 16, the teenager became the most youthful appearance-maker in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a 57th-minute replacement in their Isthmian League fixture at the opposition.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was trying to work out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss the coach commented back then.

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

Making a comeback to the professional game

Championship side the Robins – chaired by Guernsey resident their owner – had been tracking his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and arranged a trial in December 2019.

“The whole experience was hectic,” said the player. “Day one I joined the youth team, the next day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.

“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a certainty for me to sign a contract.”

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

He went on to make 83 league outings for the Robins while still a teenager, often being used as a wide defender – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.

Thanks to his skill to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Grealish.

At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he won the EFL Championship’s young player of the season award, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I believe he will represent his country and I’m sure he will progress to the top of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.

Within 90 days later, he joined Bournemouth for a understood transfer fee of £25m.

Securing his major transfer

Scott experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until the autumn to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in the summer, and then being in and out of the starting XI.

His following season was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which ruled him out for almost several months.

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

“That felt like almost another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible start for the first half.”

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

He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, forming a strong understanding in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under Thomas Tuchel.

And he has begun this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, featuring in all matches to guide them to the top five in the table.

“Representing the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said earlier this season.

“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a player, maintain my love for the game, getting better every day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”