Nigel Pearson is optimistic Alex Scott will remain a Bristol City player for the rest of the season at least, and believes the Robins remain the best environment for the teenage midfielder to continue to improve.
Scott has been subject to a flurry of transfer interest since the January transfer window opened with Tottenham Hotspur, Bournemouth, Leicester City, Wolves, Brighton & Hove Albion and Leeds United all linked at various times, and there are still 18 days remaining.
City’s apparent valuation for the 19-year-old also varies wildly with CBS Sports outlining last week that he’d be available for a fee in the region of £12m, while a Telegraph report claiming Wolves had made an enquiry and were told the Robins want £25m.
Bristol Live understands the latter figure is far more accurate in terms of what it could take to start the conversation. However, Pearson confirmed on Thursday that no bids had been received for any of the club’s players, so Scott remains in exactly the same place as he did before the window opened - albeit with the external noise continuing.
Pearson accepts that part of it is impossible to control and given his status as a young English talent playing regularly in the Championship, it’s only natural that he should attract such attention. It’d be strange if he didn’t.
“Yes, I certainly hope so. Absolutely,” Pearson said, when asked if he thinks Scott will still be a City player on February 1.
“He is a player at his age as well who benefits from the exposure that he has had over the last two seasons. He has been a regular since he has been in the side. He’s made great strides in his development and he’s dealt with the physical and mental demands of the Championship. He’s a very accomplished performer for his age.
“We realise there will be interest in him whether that is this window or the next window. For us as a club, what we don’t want to do is send the message we’re actively trying to sell our best players.
“It’s not the case, it’s always a balance, but players can drive it themselves these days. We want players to be here and want to be here.”
City remain in a position of strength regarding their prized assets with Scott under contract until 2025 so there is no approaching deadline for the Robins to have to try and negotiate a sale, unless they feel they need the money to meet the EFL’s Profit & Sustainability regulations.
Pearson and outgoing CEO Richard Gould have previously insisted that is unlikely to be a factor so any move for Scott out of the club will simply be determined by a Premier League side willing to meet City’s price point and/or the player himself pushing for a transfer away.
Scott has never shown any indication of wanting a move at this stage of his career and is believed to be happy living in Bristol, which offers a relatively accessible travel route to and from Guernsey for him and his family.
With Scott having started 25 of a possible 26 Championship games this term - his only absence being due to suspension - and increasingly in his preferred central midfield role, Bristol Live understands there is an awareness within his camp that he is very much on the right path where he is.
Indeed, should any serious offers be forthcoming to leave City with a decision to make, assurances will be sought to establish that the Channel Islander is considered a first-team player now and not a future prospect to be stashed away in the Under-21 set-up.
Scott revealed as much last season when he said : "Moving to a Premier League team now or a bigger team you're only going to playing Under-23s or sitting on the bench so I think playing week-in-week-out now is definitely benefitting me. In the future maybe I'll push on and play in the Premier League, hopefully with Bristol City but playing week-in-week-out is definitely the best thing for me."
That position has not changed and to some extent it echoes Lloyd Kelly’s decision-making process two-and-a-half years ago whereby he preferred a move to Bournemouth over Liverpool because the Reds wanted to instantly loan the defender out rather than bring him into the senior squad.
It remains to be seen whether a Premier League club is willing to spend £25m on a teenager who has not played a single minute of top-flight football in a January window which doesn’t permit any kind of pre-season period for an individual to feel settled.
That being said, there is a theory that such is the volume of interest in Scott from so many clubs that somebody may feel with the summer approaching, and a bidding war likely to ensue, spending that fee now would definitely secure the player rather than risk losing out to a bigger club in six months.
However, with the immediate priorities of Bournemouth and Wolves - the two clubs most interested at this stage - being to stay in the Premier League this season, as opposed to plan for next, a £25m prospect may not quite fit into their thinking. At this stage of the window, anyway.
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