Chelsea were linked with AFC Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott throughout the summer transfer window — especially late on — and those links have only gotten stronger since then. In fact, it seems almost a foregone conclusion that Chelsea will at least make a strong attempt to sign the 23-year-old midfielder from AFC Bournemouth, and will perhaps try to do so in January to beat other potential suitors to his signature.
But while reports along such lines have been frequent rumor mill fodder in the last few weeks, the Cherries are not giving up without a fight. The owner himself is getting involved now, trying to convince the England international to stay.
“At this point, we’re convinced we’re the right place for Alex to be and to stay, and we’ll keep on addressing the contract issues with Alex as we move through this year. We’d love to have Alex stay here and sign a new contract and be part of this team for the long haul.
“We haven’t given up, but sometimes players get stars in their eyes and they think that Chelsea or Manchester City is the right place to go.”
-Bill Foley; source: talkSport via BBC
So you’re saying Chelsea is the right place to go? You’ll get no disagreement from me!
Scott’s contract at Bournemouth is set to expire in 2028, which is starting to put some real financial pressure on them to figure out a solution. They had valued him over £100m in the summer, but recently starting dropping their asking price. Chelsea were said to be willing to go only as high as £60-70m before, which does leave a bit of a gap — but nothing that couldn’t be solved with a few rounds of negotiations.