Alex Scott - £25m to Bournemouth- Confirmed

[DaveInSA]

I’m definitely in the minority here.

I don’t think he will leave this summer. The fee we want, plus his relative lack of experience, plus his desire for games makes me think we’ll keep him.

he could be the spark that gets us into the playoffs next season. And then who knows? 

[Nugget]

Have heard the loan back thing is a possibility via someone that would have some knowledge in the club. But I just can’t see it happening at all, unless it’s a Top 6 team. I think it’ll be sorted out early in the Summer though for all parties if not already. Massive distraction for all at the mo.

[The Swan and Cemetery]

Not convinced a loan back is utterly implausible. Not the most likely outcome, but could see a scenario where:

- He’s unlikely to get in the first team/match day squad next season (the biggest clubs)

- We decide having him for a promotion push is worth a significant amount of money given a) his quality and b) what’s likely to be available to us in the market - unlikely that a £25m or 2 x £10m who’d improve us, would find us attractive and also likely to mess up the team/wages ethos and structure NP has embedded. And endless cheaper players also feels against what NP is about. Admittedly SL might just fancy having some cash back in his bank account, but hopefully he’s in thrall of the Prem dream again, particularly as the other 4 Bristol Sport teams are all in their respective top flights. 

- AS thinks first team football with us for another season and a chance at promotion (maybe we’d need to lay out to him how we expect to spend this summer), but a move to a big club rather than middling/lower Prem is right for him, given he’ll only be 20/ turning 21 at the start of the 24/25 season

- We get (say) £15m rather than £25m and AS stays. 

Accept it’s not a high likelihood, but not entirely unrealistic.

Maybe more likely are one of (full fee for City in all cases):

- just below the biggest clubs, where relegation is low risk, but he could be quickly in the match day squad (eg Brighton or Villa)

- middle to lower (eg Burnley or Bournemouth) has a great season in a largely struggling side and then moves to one of the big 5 or 6 for a mega fee

- one of the big 5 or 6 and loaned to a Burnley or Bournemouth 

 

[DaveF]

47 minutes ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

Good article on Alex

https://premierleaguenewsnow.com/scouting-report-bristol-city-midfield-gem-alex-scott/

It's dreadful, full of inaccuracies.

[Port Said Red]

27 minutes ago, DaveInSA said:

I’m definitely in the minority here.

I don’t think he will leave this summer. The fee we want, plus his relative lack of experience, plus his desire for games makes me think we’ll keep him.

he could be the spark that gets us into the playoffs next season. And then who knows? 

He already has one foot out of the door, probably confirmed when he gives away everything but his shorts at the end of today's game.

I am disappointed I can't make it today as I am sure he will be doing his best to impress everybody in the crowd.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, The Swan and Cemetery said:

Not convinced a loan back is utterly implausible. Not the most likely outcome, but could see a scenario where:

- He’s unlikely to get in the first team/match day squad next season (the biggest clubs)

- We decide having him for a promotion push is worth a significant amount of money given a) his quality and b) what’s likely to be available to us in the market - unlikely that a £25m or 2 x £10m who’d improve us, would find us attractive and also likely to mess up the team/wages ethos and structure NP has embedded. And endless cheaper players also feels against what NP is about. Admittedly SL might just fancy having some cash back in his bank account, but hopefully he’s in thrall of the Prem dream again, particularly as the other 4 Bristol Sport teams are all in their respective top flights. 

- AS thinks first team football with us for another season and a chance at promotion (maybe we’d need to lay out to him how we expect to spend this summer), but a move to a big club rather than middling/lower Prem is right for him, given he’ll only be 20/ turning 21 at the start of the 24/25 season

- We get (say) £15m rather than £25m and AS stays. 

Accept it’s not a high likelihood, but not entirely unrealistic.

Maybe more likely are one of (full fee for City in all cases):

- just below the biggest clubs, where relegation is low risk, but he could be quickly in the match day squad (eg Brighton or Villa)

- middle to lower (eg Burnley or Bournemouth) has a great season in a largely struggling side and then moves to one of the big 5 or 6 for a mega fee

- one of the big 5 or 6 and loaned to a Burnley or Bournemouth 

 

Burnley, Bournemouth, Brighton, Brentford these 4 B`s ..please someone tell me what they have done so right to get them in the prem that we haven`t ?

We are still circling around in this div mostly, while others pass us by.

Yes I know others drop down as well as pass us in both directions....maybe this time SL has got lucky and got us a decent manager after many fails. We will need to hang on to our best assets at some stage if we are to move up a div.

This build wont last long if we continue to sell our key..stones/players...a loan back if only for a season seems to be a good option if possible.

[bcfcnick]

Almost certainly he will leave for a fee that works out with add-ons as above £25m. There are enough clubs who will be interested for a potential bidding war.   Much as every fan would still like Alex to be showing his skills at Ashton Gate then a  sale makes sense for both the club and player.  He's the type of footballer who loves playing and I suspect he would just the likes of Brighton over some of the elite teams if it means playing more.

£25m plus will be transformational if the available sum is used wisely in the transfer market, so I'd question if it is worth playing him these last two games aside from a cameo farewell minute or two to avoid any injury scuppering a deal. Different if there was something to play for aside from pride and an upper-half league table position.

[INCRED]

Let’s remember City hold all the cards with regards to Scott and if we sell or not this summer. The club will have a ceiling regards to his valuation and we don’t need to sell but if someone wants to match the valuation then I think SL & NP would want it sorted early in the window 

Whether a loan back option is possible depends on the scouting team and availability of possible replacements but it would certainly give the club some leverage in striking a deal that suits 

The first few weeks of the window could be very busy as well as interesting as we could well see quite a lot of activity 

I think we could see as many as 6 new signings depending on how certain OOC players negotiations develop 

We are a decent mid table team and the table reflects that fact, it’s quite clear that NP intends to build a squad to take the next step and will expect to be backed to enable him to target the top 6 next season

It feels as though those drab unpredictable past 3-4 years have passed and we are now on the trajectory upwards with progressive attacking football 

2023/24 could be far more enjoyable for us long suffering fans (hopefully)!!

[One Team]

Appreciate the opinions of those thinking he might stay or come back on loan, but IMHO I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a bang to rights player leaving (as in sale to a higher level) as Alex. 

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, The Swan and Cemetery said:

Not convinced a loan back is utterly implausible. Not the most likely outcome, but could see a scenario where:

- He’s unlikely to get in the first team/match day squad next season (the biggest clubs)

- We decide having him for a promotion push is worth a significant amount of money given a) his quality and b) what’s likely to be available to us in the market - unlikely that a £25m or 2 x £10m who’d improve us, would find us attractive and also likely to mess up the team/wages ethos and structure NP has embedded. And endless cheaper players also feels against what NP is about. Admittedly SL might just fancy having some cash back in his bank account, but hopefully he’s in thrall of the Prem dream again, particularly as the other 4 Bristol Sport teams are all in their respective top flights. 

- AS thinks first team football with us for another season and a chance at promotion (maybe we’d need to lay out to him how we expect to spend this summer), but a move to a big club rather than middling/lower Prem is right for him, given he’ll only be 20/ turning 21 at the start of the 24/25 season

- We get (say) £15m rather than £25m and AS stays. 

Accept it’s not a high likelihood, but not entirely unrealistic.

Maybe more likely are one of (full fee for City in all cases):

- just below the biggest clubs, where relegation is low risk, but he could be quickly in the match day squad (eg Brighton or Villa)

- middle to lower (eg Burnley or Bournemouth) has a great season in a largely struggling side and then moves to one of the big 5 or 6 for a mega fee

- one of the big 5 or 6 and loaned to a Burnley or Bournemouth 

 

I think it all depends on what level of club Alex feels he wants to be at next season, and whether that aligns to where he wants to be overall, ie does he want to go to his final club now, or do it in steps.

If he wants to go straight to top 6, then I think there’s a chance they might not come for him this summer.

If he is prepared to go to a PL club as a stepping stone, then he’ll be off.  Not sure where BHA fit in, as they might finish top 6, but I’d put them in the stepping-stone group.  I think they’d be a good choice come what may.  If they stump up the money he’ll go.

Looking forward to watching him today…hope he goes out (at home) with a bang.

[The Humble Realist]

To be honest if he goes somewhere on loan he is more likely to go somewhere like Southampton or another team likely to be in the promotion mix.

Not saying we cant be in the mix.

Geography may also play a part. E.g. if he signed for fulham then perhaps a loan at  watford so he can settle into London etc 

[The Swan and Cemetery]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I think it all depends on what level of club Alex feels he wants to be at next season, and whether that aligns to where he wants to be overall, ie does he want to go to his final club now, or do it in steps.

If he wants to go straight to top 6, then I think there’s a chance they might not come for him this summer.

If he is prepared to go to a PL club as a stepping stone, then he’ll be off.  Not sure where BHA fit in, as they might finish top 6, but I’d put them in the stepping-stone group.  I think they’d be a good choice come what may.  If they stump up the money he’ll go.

Looking forward to watching him today…hope he goes out (at home) with a bang.

Agree re Alex’s views being critical and think that combined with our finances meaning we can make some choices, inc Alex being worth much more for a promotion push season than any plausible targets with the money for selling him, might make a loan back an option, with the top end club knowing they’ve secured him for 24/25 onwards aged 20/21. So everyone gets a good outcome, but with some compromises - for us a lower fee. 

[The Swan and Cemetery]

Just now, The Humble Realist said:

To be honest if he goes somewhere on loan he is more likely to go somewhere like Southampton or another team likely to be in the promotion mix.

Not saying we cant be in the mix.

Geography may also play a part. E.g. if he signed for fulham then perhaps a loan at  watford so he can settle into London etc 

Think where he went on loan would need to be part of the deal - lower fee and loaned back to us. No reason for a club to pay top whack and then loan him back to us, there’d be more attractive options as you say. 

[Davefevs]

1 minute ago, The Humble Realist said:

To be honest if he goes somewhere on loan he is more likely to go somewhere like Southampton or another team likely to be in the promotion mix.

Not saying we cant be in the mix.

Geography may also play a part. E.g. if he signed for fulham then perhaps a loan at  watford so he can settle into London etc 

Think that would be a real bummer for us if he went somewhere and loaned out…but not to us.  That might be the reality though, just hard to take.

[Slippin cider]

Why, when we get a decent player do they instantly have to leave? (Or perceived to be leaving) …why not keep em to bolster our chances of actually getting somewhere? ….

[Son of Fred]

2 hours ago, gl2 said:

Burnley, Bournemouth, Brighton, Brentford these 4 B`s ..please someone tell me what they have done so right to get them in the prem that we haven`t ?

Clever recruitment/scouting.

[Jerseybean]

Sheffield Utd added to the list - https://www.sheffieldunited.news/news/sheffield-united-tracking-unbelievable-30m-man-alex-scott/

 

[Dullmoan Tone]

46 minutes ago, The Swan and Cemetery said:

Agree re Alex’s views being critical and think that combined with our finances meaning we can make some choices, inc Alex being worth much more for a promotion push season than any plausible targets with the money for selling him, might make a loan back an option, with the top end club knowing they’ve secured him for 24/25 onwards aged 20/21. So everyone gets a good outcome, but with some compromises - for us a lower fee. 

I not at all convinced that a loan back is viable - any club who has purchased AS for big money will not see him developing as fast in the same team and environment. They are more than likely to want to see how he adapts in a new team and environment - because this is what they ultimately want him to do for them.

Loan backs to the selling club are sentimental but so rare for this very reason - can't remember the manager who made this point a few years ago.

[ScottishRed]

2 hours ago, gl2 said:

Burnley, Bournemouth, Brighton, Brentford these 4 B`s ..please someone tell me what they have done so right to get them in the prem that we haven`t ?

We are still circling around in this div mostly, while others pass us by.

Yes I know others drop down as well as pass us in both directions....maybe this time SL has got lucky and got us a decent manager after many fails. We will need to hang on to our best assets at some stage if we are to move up a div.

This build wont last long if we continue to sell our key..stones/players...a loan back if only for a season seems to be a good option if possible.

Fella, it’s been done to death.

1. We need the money, if Alex goes for £25m an awful lot of that will go towards stemming the huge losses we incur every season.

2. If a EPL club comes in for a Championship player it is hugely probable he will go. They are professional sports people who want to play at the highest level they can.Then of course, there is the money. Even if Alex goes to a middling PL club his wages will increase by a factor of 5/6/7 times, maybe more.

It is the reality of football nowadays, the gap in wealth between the EPL and the Championship is a chasm and players and their agents, want a piece of the action.

I don’t blame Alex for one second if he moves on and will wish him the best of luck. 

It is incredibly difficult, although, not impossible, to get promoted without PP’s or a huge element of good fortune.

I think a loan back is highly unlikely, I don’t see how it benefits the buying club, nor the player. If I were him I would be looking to settle into my new environment both personally and professionally and try and force myself in to the match day squad as a minimum.

[REDOXO]

4 hours ago, Bedred31 said:

Perhaps, but not necessarily. We spent the money coming in on lesser players on higher wages. 

We didn’t. Johnson and Ashton did. Ably supported by Steve! 

[The Swan and Cemetery]

1 hour ago, Dullmoan Tone said:

I not at all convinced that a loan back is viable - any club who has purchased AS for big money will not see him developing as fast in the same team and environment. They are more than likely to want to see how he adapts in a new team and environment - because this is what they ultimately want him to do for them.

Loan backs to the selling club are sentimental but so rare for this very reason - can't remember the manager who made this point a few years ago.

Don’t think it would be sentimental, it would be for knocking (say) £10m off the fee on the basis he wouldn’t be ready for the buying club (so would need to be a Man C etc, not a Brighton or Villa). Loan backs maybe rare, but loans aren’t, so whilst don’t think it’s likely (or necessarily a great option), do think it’s possible. 

[Simon bristol]

1 hour ago, Slippin cider said:

Why, when we get a decent player do they instantly have to leave? (Or perceived to be leaving) …why not keep em to bolster our chances of actually getting somewhere? ….

Sadly flogging them has to pay for the next round of marley watkins/ gustav engvalls etc etc.

[Red Ferret]

1 hour ago, Jerseybean said:

Sheffield Utd added to the list - https://www.sheffieldunited.news/news/sheffield-united-tracking-unbelievable-30m-man-alex-scott/

 

[Port Said Red]

Just taken a couple of mil' off the asking price. 

[DaveF]

50 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

Just taken a couple of mil' off the asking price. 

Yes I'm sure that's how it works.

[Fuber]

9 minutes ago, DaveF said:

Yes I'm sure that's how it works.

To be fair - he's been pretty anonymous since stepping back in, for me anyway.

Today was just very poor on top.

[mozo]

I don't think the scouts will have been impressed today, but then they've probably made their minds up by now. 

Scott's agent will have a pretty good idea by now of what offers they can expect. I reckon it'll be a formality.

There's probably no point in starting him next week.

[bcfc01]

Unfortunately, on probably his last game for us at AG, today was the worst I've seen him play. He was a passenger, never in the game and should have been subbed at HT. It was very clear he was off his game.

Shame, as he would have wanted to sign off in a much more positive way.

 

 

[Jeez]

I think it got to him, the realisation that his life is about to change on a level few of us could comprehend.

[W-S-M Seagull]

20 minutes ago, mozo said:

I don't think the scouts will have been impressed today, but then they've probably made their minds up by now. 

Scott's agent will have a pretty good idea by now of what offers they can expect. I reckon it'll be a formality.

There's probably no point in starting him next week.

He cried in front of the South stand. He knows he's going.