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Back when the young midfielder made his local team debut versus Phoenix Sports in front of just 55 fans in 2019, his coach at the time predicted, “there’s more to come from this youngster.”

That prediction proved to be a bit of an underestimation.

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

His rise from eighth-tier talent to possible international star is a true throwback, a story rarely seen in the modern game.

What’s next? A major tournament?

“In my mind, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team too,” the player stated previously.

“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and circumstances have changed drastically for me and my loved ones.”

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

Developing in the lower tiers

His path in football has been far from a typical one.

He was part of four and a half years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on Guernsey to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Prior to his 13th birthday, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an option and he was on the Cherries’ books for a while, but, by the player’s own admission, his heart was not in it.

Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.

“I wasn’t playing very well and flying over every week was starting to feel overwhelming,” he recalled.

“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at weekends because I had missed nearly several years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth again was a thing I really needed.

“To gain some confidence by coming back and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be perhaps the most crucial things that got me to this point.”

At the age of 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their Isthmian League fixture at Phoenix Sports.

“I had trouble sleeping because I was figuring out how I could include him in the side because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach commented at the time.

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

Making a comeback to the professional game

Championship side the Robins – owned by islander their owner – had been tracking Scott’s development after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a try-out in late 2019.

“It was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I joined the youth team, the second day I trained with the senior squad, which was a complete shock.

“Midweek I played for Guernsey FC in the capital, returned home and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a certainty for me to sign a contract.”

Within 18 months, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus the Hatters.

Scott made 83 league appearances for the club while still a teenager, often being used as a wing-back – and occasionally in attack as a number 10 – demonstrating his adaptability and versatility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.

With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the nickname ‘Guernsey’s Grealish’, a nod to City and national team playmaker Jack Grealish.

By the conclusion of the 2022-23 campaign he won the second tier’s young player of the season award, was selected in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.

“Without question, I think he will represent his country and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s manager at the club, remarked last year.

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

Getting his major transfer

Scott endured a difficult first season with the club, waiting until October to earn his Premier League debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then being inconsistent of the team.

His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a knee operation which sidelined him for almost several months.

“I had quite a good run at the end of the previous campaign, which was good 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 five months.”

But he was then called up by the national team for the U21 Euros – and managed to regain fitness for the tournament.

He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in Slovakia, forming a strong understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has gone on to impress for the senior side with the national coach.

And he has begun this season equally as strongly for his club, playing in every game to guide them to the top five in the standings.

“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest moments of my career,” Scott stated earlier this season.

“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 catch the eye of the England manager and earn an opportunity.”