Liverpool have been told it will need "one hell of a bid" if they want to prise Alex Scott away from Bristol City.
The young midfielder has shone at Ashton Gate this term and has been attracting plenty of Premier League attention. Liverpool's head of recruitment Dave Fallows and chief scout Barry Hunter went to watch the 19-year-old in the flesh recently as England U20s faced Germany.
Scott joined the Championship outfit from Guernsey in 2020 and has gone from strength to strength, winning the club's young player of the year award last term. Several top flight outfits are in need of midfield recruits and Scott has been identified as a target for the likes of West Ham and Wolves.
He was able to pit himself against the best in a recent FA Cup clash against Manchester City, after which Pep Guardiola declared him an "unbelievable player". Liverpool are preparing to refresh their options in the middle of the park, but have been warned that it will take a notable sum - with Bristol eyeing around £25m for the midfielder.
Robins boss Nigel Pearson told Bristol Live : "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."
The interest in Scott comes after Liverpool pulled out of the race to sign Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund. The finances involved in signing Bellingham would take up a huge amount of their budget with the club looking to bring in several new faces rather than one marquee name.
West Ham are among the teams who could rival them - as per the Daily Mail - as the Hammers plan for life without Declan Rice. The England midfielder could move on this summer, leaving a big hole in their midfield. The London outfit have already seen to see Scott play ahead of a potential move.
