‘My friends ask: are you going here?’ Bristol City’s Alex Scott, transfer target of the elite

“I feel like I played all right … I don’t think I played that well,” Alex Scott says, doing himself something of a disservice as the Bristol City midfielder reflects on the night Manchester City came to town. A clip of Scott gliding into the box and away from Julián Álvarez and Riyad Mahrez and bursting between Kevin De Bruyne and Rico Lewis went viral. His modesty is indicative of his endearing personality and the standards he has set himself. “I wanted to show what I’ve been doing the past two years in the Championship against one of the best teams in the world.”

What the 19-year-old has been doing this season has earned him the English Football League young player of the year award, previously won by Brennan Johnson, Ollie Watkins and Jude Bellingham, an opponent in Scott’s youth days at Southampton and a source of inspiration. “I played against Jude a few times,” he says. “I remember playing in tournaments against Harvey Elliott quite a bit and Jamal Musiala, now of Bayern Munich, because we used to play Chelsea all the time. Players like Jude and Jamal who have gone on to the highest level possible, it gives motivation for young lads like myself who have played against them and seen how good they were as kids.”

Pep Guardiola gushed and Jack Grealish, one of Scott’s idols, was equally complimentary. Grealish later called Scott a “top, top talent” in a social media post. “I was speaking to him a little bit after the game and managed to get his shirt, so it was a special night all round,” Scott says. “To get the recognition from someone like him, it did mean a lot. He is friends with Andi [Weimann], who knows him from when they were at Villa together. I’m thankful to Andi for pulling me over to chat because I was a