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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 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”

This statement proved to be a bit of an understatement.

Now aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the playmaker has earned his first call-up to the full Three Lions team.

His rise from eighth-tier talent to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.

What’s next? The World Cup?

“In my mind, there was no chance of making it as a professional football player, let alone playing in the top division and playing for the national team as well,” Scott said in a recent interview.

“It has been a crazy five or six years of my life, and things have transformed drastically for me and my family.”

So in what way did Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, find himself here?

Developing in the lower tiers

His path in football has not been a typical one.

He spent over four years in the Saints’ youth system starting at eight, leaving school early each Friday to travel by air from his home on the Channel Island to the south coast so he could train and feature for the Saints’ youth teams.

Prior to he turned 13, however, they decided to let him go. The Cherries were willing to offer him an opportunity and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.

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

“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was becoming overwhelming,” he recalled.

“All I desired to relax at home with my friends at the weekend because I missed almost four and a half years of doing that. Getting that slice of youth again was something I definitely needed.

“Building some confidence by returning and playing island football was huge for me. It was probably the most crucial factors that got me where I am today.”

When he was just 16, the teenager made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a second-half substitute in their league match at the opposition.

“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because his talent is obvious,” manager Tony Vance stated back then.

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

Making a comeback to the professional game

Championship side the Robins – chaired by islander Steve Lansdown – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive start in adult football and gave him a trial in late 2019.

“It was chaos,” said the player. “Day one I trained with the youth team, the second day I trained with the first team, which was a total shock.

“On the Wednesday I played for his local side in London, returned home and by Friday, I took the field for the youth team and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”

Within a year and a half, even some way short of his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut versus Luton.

Scott made eighty-three league appearances for the Robins while in his teens, often being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and not in his natural role he was the standout performer.

Thanks to his skill to drive the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and national team playmaker Grealish.

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

“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, Scott’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked previously.

Within 90 days after, he joined the Cherries for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.

Getting his big move

Scott endured a challenging debut campaign with the club, waiting until October to make his top-flight debut after a knee problem in the summer, and then finding himself in and out of the starting XI.

His following season was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.

“I had quite a good run at the close of last season, which was good to have, then I fractured my jaw,” said he.

“That felt like yet another obstacle and it was turning out to be quite a terrible year for the first half.”

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

He started five of the Young Lions’ six matches as they claimed victory in the competition in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in the middle with his teammate, who himself has gone on to impress for the first team under the national coach.

And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in every game to guide them to fifth in the table.

“To play for the England senior team would be one of the proudest occasions of my life,” Scott stated recently.

“The responsibility is mine, I’ve got to continue developing as a footballer, maintain my love for football, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and earn an opportunity.”