Bristol City wonderkid’s honest response to Tottenham, Leeds and Norwich links

Bristol City wonderkid Alex Scott says he has blocked out any transfer speculation with his focus being on representing England at the UEFA Under-19 Championship this summer.

The 18-year-old has had a breakthrough season under Nigel Pearson with the Robins’ boss entrusting him throughout the entire season in various roles in the team.

Pearson has granted him a total 36 appearances this season, whilst the central midfielder has managed to pick up four goals and two assists along the road, earning the Young Player of the Year Award.

Despite the club’s inconsistency with results this season as well as bad runs of form, Scott has still shone through, showing his excellent potential this season.

And as he continues to build up his game time, his form hasn’t gone amiss with a handful of Premier League clubs reportedly interested in him.

Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City and Leeds United have all had interest reported in Scott in the last week, which is a testament to his ability.

But despite the increasing speculation, Scott has sounded out any interest for the time being and is focused on completing the remainder of the season.

“You can hear the noise, you know the noise is there but I just try to get on with my football," he said.

"We’ve still got two games left to play so I just want to finish the season strongly and put myself in the best position for the Euros in the summer if I get picked. I try my best to ignore it, I don’t read anything on social media so I think that’s the best way to keep it.

"The opportunities that I’m getting here and with the gaffer and what he’s doing for me this season, I’m very grateful for it.”

Scott did make a slight assessment of hypothetically placing where he may be if he were contracted to a club that plies its trade in the English top flight.

Currently, Scott is a vital member of the first team squad at City and is one of the guaranteed starters, whereas at a Premier Legue club, he may not have found as many playing opportunities.

Deployed as a central attacking midfielder or at times a wing-back, the Guernsey-born star is playing vital first-team minutes, compared to a majority of players at his age.

And at Bristol City, the opportunity of playing senior football is doing more for his development rather than playing developmental football against players of his age group.

He said: "Moving to a Premier League team now or a bigger team you’re only going to be 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."

“Obviously I’ve signed a four-year contract at the start of the season so we’ll see how that goes, I’ve still got three more years here so I’m very comfortable at Bristol City at the moment."

In contrast to this season, the 18 year-old only made one start for Bristol City throughout the 20/21 season and has been overwhelmed by how included he has been in the squad this campaign, and how many opportunities have been presented for him.

The midfielder is due to get a well-deserved call up in the upcoming summer to the England under-19s Euros tournament, which takes place from June 18 until early July.

That could be a crossover between his international career and when his club begins pre-season for an early Championship start.

However representing the Three Lions at a senior level is a major career aspiration for him and representing them at Under-19’s level will play a small role in that.

“I think at the moment and the way it’s going, my dream would be to play for England.

"Especially playing in the younger age groups and you see the first team players sometimes when you’re there and it’s a big dream for me to play for England as I progress.

"Maybe at the start of the season, it would have just been playing as many games as I can for Bristol City. I didn’t expect to be playing so many games. I’d have been happy with 10.

"Now for the next season it would be to start every game and be the first name on the team-sheet and that would be my main objective. But for the rest of my career, it would be to play for England.

"I probably won’t get much of a break this summer so hopefully, I’ll get a call-up to my country this summer.

"Playing for your country is always a proud moment, whether it be a friendly or a qualifying game, I’ll just be proud to wear the England shirt so it will be that one step forward to play at a major tournament for England."

As a youngster on Guernsey, it would have been hard for someone like Scott to have a footballing idol on the island as such as he would have crossed paths with them in their first-team.

Which is why he looked to the glitz and glamour of the Champions League and World Cup for his inspiration to help shape his career, with some fitting his position in that central attacking midfield role.

Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar stands out as his all-time player but it is two stars from Chelsea and Manchester City that he has his biggest motivation from.

“Neymar is probably my favourite player of all time,” he revealed. “The players that show off during the games and do skills and stuff I think when you are growing up that’s what you enjoy, and you take that into your training sessions as kids.”

“Being more grown up it’s the players like Mason Mount and Phil Foden who are English lads doing it in the Premier League week in week out and impressing there, so those are the players I enjoy watching at the minute.”