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Speculation is increasing that a Premier League club will soon make a move to sign Guernsey football prodigy Alex Scott from Bristol City.
Leeds United are the latest club said to be considering a bid for the highly rated 18-year-old. Other Premier League clubs reportedly interested in Scott include Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Leicester City.
At the weekend, MOT Leeds News quoted football recruitment expert David Webb as telling The Athletic that Leeds had joined the race to sign Scott, who played 38 times for Bristol City last season in the second tier of English football.
But Webb also said that Scott may be better to join a Premier League club with a better recent record of developing young players.
Pictured: National media reports are increasingly linking Alex Scott with a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (left) or Elland Road, home of Leeds United.
"People recognise that he’s a player on the rise," said Webb, who has held recruitment roles with a succession of leading English and European clubs.
"Leeds have been looking at him. Tottenham, too. But if he is going to leave, then he surely has to move somewhere he’ll be able to come in and play.
"It might be to his advantage to be at a good developing club — a Brighton, Southampton, Fulham or Bournemouth — where he’ll be integrated into the first-team set up through training and, initially, substitute appearances, and stand a chance of gaining some regular involvement once fully engrained.
“He might be lost in a bigger club’s under-23s set up."
Oh his name's Alex Scott... ???? pic.twitter.com/PiSwyY71Wg
— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) February 25, 2022
Pictured: Alex Scott signed for Bristol City as a professional last summer and in his first full season he established himself as a firm fans' favourite.
Sources close to Tottenham Hotspur report that the club's former Manager, David Pleat, an advisor to Chairman Daniel Levy, is making background checks on Scott ahead of a potential move for the youngster.
Any club wanting to sign Scott this summer may have to pay Bristol City around £10million. He is under contract with them until 2025. At the end of last season, he said he was happy at City, who are owned by billionaire Guernsey resident Stephen Lansdown.
But Webb thinks Scott is good enough to make the step up to a Premier League club.
Pictured: Stephen Lansdown, the owner of Bristol City, who also recently signed another promising Guernsey youngster, Ben Acey.
"Scott’s instincts are all forward-thinking. He started as a No 10 or as a progressive No 8 and is technically adept," said Webb.
"Yet he is so physically strong and athletic that manager Nigel Pearson used him as a right wing-back to give the team that dynamism up and down the flank - that pure power and energy.
"The kid likes a tackle, and a booking, too. That aggression and willingness to compete actually mark him out and he seems eager to take on more responsibility."
Locally, Scott played for St Martin's and Guernsey FC before joining Bristol City as a professional.
Pictured (top): Alex Scott in action for Bristol City and the crests of potential suitors Leeds United (left) and Tottenham Hotspur.
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