Bristol City have declared it will take "one hell of a bid" to prise Alex Scott from the club as Liverpool continue to monitor the teenage midfielder.
The 19-year-old has emerged as one of the most exciting youngsters in the Championship, making 44 appearances so far this season having become a regular in the Robins engine room last campaign.
West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers have previously been linked with Scott, with Liverpool among many Premier League clubs aware of the progress being made by the England under-20 international.
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Liverpool are expected to sign at least two midfielders this summer as Jurgen Klopp looks to revamp his squad after a disappointing campaign. However, that will not include Jude Bellingham, with the Reds having ended their pursuit of the Borussia Dortmund man.
With such an important transfer window on the horizon, Liverpool are at present unlikely to keep anything more than a watching brief on Scott, who is untried at the top level but whose potential is such that Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson earlier this year declared the player could command a fee up to £25million.
And, speaking to Bristol Live, he has reiterated only a significant offer would see Scott depart the Championship side.
"Alex Scott for instance as a point of conversation, every player has a price," said Pearson. "It will have to be one hell of a bid for him to go. I can assure you that Steve (Lansdown, the Bristol City majority shareholder), he doesn't want to sell players for the sake of it. It's not about that.
"I think Alex Scott's had two really good Championship seasons for us which is remarkable to say he's only 19 and he's been one of our most successful and consistent players but for somebody to get him away from here is going to cost a fortune so we're not going to undersell ourselves at all. And that's why it's important to get young players on long contracts.
"If we lose our players, we'll only lose them if it means we can facilitate the growth of our squad. Managers lose their jobs because you don't win enough games and you aren't successful enough. If you want to be a success and want to be a team that is challenging for promotion then you have to have a good enough squad. You can't have your cake and eat it so that's life."
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