Bristol City slap new price tag on Wolves, Spurs, Man Utd and Leeds transfer target

Bristol City have reportedly named their price for talented teenager Alex Scott, which could act as a deterrent for interested parties. The 19-year-old has been the subject of much speculation in the first ten days of the January transfer window, but no bids have been received.

Scott is the talk of the Championship and is regarded as one of the best young talents in the English Football League. The Guernsey-born midfielder was one of only three non-Premier League players that won the UEFA Under-19 Championship last summer.

He had a breakout season in the Championship last season playing 38 times with four assists. Scott has played in every league match he has been available for this season, starting all 25 matches with no goals but five assists this season.

Scott’s performances have attracted the attention of a dozen of Premier League clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Everton, and Leicester City. A reported price tag of £12m was reported at the start of the month, but that valuation was rejected by Nigel Pearson.

Telegraph journalist John Percy claimed that Wolves have been in discussions with the Robins over a possible transfer. Wolverhampton Wanderers could be set for frustration though as Bristol City are holding firm with an apparent £25m price tag. Percy added that the Midlands club are ‘very keen’ to sign Scott this month, but are prepared to move on to different targets if the price tag does not change.

If any club were to meet the valuation of £25m, it would equal the fee received for Adam Webster from Brighton & Hove Albion in August 2019. Webster spent one season at Ashton Gate before moving to the Premier League and is by far their most expensive departure with Lloyd Kelly’s move to Bournemouth for £15m in the same season in second.

Any sale of Scott or any of City’s ‘prized assets’ may not be immediately reinvested back into the playing squad. The January window is notoriously difficult to conduct business in and so far no new arrivals have come in.

“In terms of reinvesting money at this stage of the season we are very wary of doing that,” admitted Pearson last week when asked if any sale would help finance any new transfers.

"What normally happens is clubs come in and think they are doing you a favour by taking the player and they want them on the cheapest deal, then you wanna go out and buy somebody and the prices are massive.

"It’s not a great window, it’s a short window and it’s not a great one to build in. If we get offers that the club feel are reasonable and acceptable and they help in the longer term then the club will accept it.

“We want to keep our best players but we don’t want players who aren’t keen on staying here either. There is a counter-argument with this and what is important for the players is that there is interest or possible interest from other clubs, while they are here they are playing for us.”