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

That statement proved to be something of an underestimation.

Today 22 years old and an established top-flight player with the Cherries, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the full England squad.

His ascent from eighth-tier talent to potential England player is a proper throwback, a story rarely told in the modern era.

What’s next? A major tournament?

“Back then, there was zero possibility of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and representing England too,” Scott said in a recent interview.

“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and things have changed completely for me and my family.”

But how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?

Learning in the lower tiers

Scott’s football journey has not been a typical one.

He spent four and a half years in Southampton’s youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could train and feature for the club’s academy sides.

Prior to he turned 13, however, they released him. The Cherries were willing to offer Scott an opportunity and he remained with them for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.

Instead, he chose to remain on the island and play for his local team.

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he explained.

“I just wanted to relax at my home with my friends at weekends because I missed almost four and a half years of that experience. Getting that slice of childhood back was something I really required.

“To gain some self-belief by coming back and taking part in local football was huge for me. It was perhaps one of the most important things that got me to this point.”

At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in Guernsey’s history when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league match at Phoenix Sports.

“I’ve been having sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.

“People have witnessed that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s a class act.”

Returning to the professional game

Championship side Bristol City – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s early progress after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a try-out in December 2019.

“The whole experience was chaos,” said Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the next day I trained with the first team, which was a complete shock.

“On the Wednesday I played for Guernsey FC in London, travelled back 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 put pen to paper on a contract.”

In just 18 months, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.

He went on to make eighty-three league outings for the Robins while in his teens, often being used as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a attacking midfielder – demonstrating his adaptability and flexibility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.

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

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s young player of the season honour, was chosen in the league’s team of the year and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.

“No doubt, I think he’ll play for England and I think he will progress to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.

Within three months later, he signed for Bournemouth for a understood fee of £25m.

Getting his big move

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

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

“There was a decent run at the close of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I fractured my jaw,” explained he.

“It was yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible start for the first five months.”

But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and succeeded in regain fitness in time.

He started five of the England U21s’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the senior side under the national coach.

And he has begun this season equally as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.

“Representing the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” the player said recently.

“It’s down to me, I’ve got to keep progressing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I impress the national coach and earn an opportunity.”