Bournemouth spent the summer telling everyone Alex Scott was not for sale. That line is getting quieter. Sky Sports News reported on Friday morning that the club's position has softened, and that an offer above £80m with add-ons in January would have to be taken seriously.
The contract is the problem
Scott, 23, keeps declining the new deals Bournemouth put in front of him. His current one runs out in a little over 18 months, and everyone involved understands what that does to a valuation. He is not pushing for an exit and has not made life difficult, but he is ambitious and wants to see what the bigger clubs are offering. A player in that position does not have to agitate. The calendar does the agitating for him.
Chelsea and Liverpool are the two still watching seriously. Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham all looked at him before the summer window closed, were told no, and went and solved their midfield problems elsewhere. That reduces the field but it does not reduce the price.
January depends on where they are in the table
The reported condition is a practical one: Bournemouth are said to be open to offers in the new year if the club is effectively safe from relegation by then. That is doing a lot of work at the moment. Marco Rose's team have yet to win a Premier League match this season and were beaten 5-1 at Chelsea last weekend, even while putting together back-to-back Europa League wins over Real Sociedad and Sturm Graz. Safety by Christmas is not a given.
He also made his full England debut this month, which rarely makes a player cheaper.
Rose is saying the same thing he said in August
The head coach was asked about it before the Sturm Graz tie and gave the answer of a man who has been asked too often. "We just closed the other transfer window and we're now talking about the next one," Rose said. "I told you that Alex Scott was going to stay in the summer. We got questions after questions in press conferences for I don't know how many weeks. He's a player of our club and now he's injured, we are looking forward to having him back in a couple of days and weeks and we'll continue with Alex Scott. And he's quite committed, everyone can see it from the first games."
He repeated it ahead of Sunderland, with one addition worth noting: "If he is back, he's playing for Bournemouth."
The injury news is better than feared. Scott aggravated a thigh tendon problem on England duty and was initially expected to miss up to eight weeks. Rose said a scan on Wednesday looked "really well" and that the club are no longer thinking in those terms, though he stopped short of naming a date and ruled him out of this weekend and probably the AC Milan tie.
Transfer context: Alex Scott, 23, England midfielder, under contract at Bournemouth for a little over 18 more months and declining new terms. Sky Sports News reports the club would consider offers in excess of £80m plus add-ons in January, subject to their league position. Chelsea and Liverpool retain serious interest. Source: Sky Sports News, 16 October 2026.
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