Chelsea Transfer News: Three bids. All rejected. Chelsea have now had three separate approaches for Bournemouth’s Alex Scott turned down, with their most recent offer of £68 million flatly dismissed by the Cherries, as reported by The i and relayed by [Transfer Feed](https://www.transferfeed.com/transfers/a-scott-afc-bournemouth-chelsea/37502615). Bournemouth are holding out for a minimum of £80 million for the 23-year-old central midfielder, and they show absolutely zero intention of dropping that figure.
Scott has been one of the Premier League’s standout performers this season. Under former manager Andoni Iraola, he made 37 league appearances, created 27 chances, won 60 tackles, and contributed 195 recoveries, a defensive workload of 387 total contributions across the campaign. He also helped Bournemouth clinch historic European qualification. The club aren’t letting him walk cheap. Simple as that.
Here’s the thing. Chelsea’s interest in Scott isn’t even unconditional. Internally, the sporting department only flagged him as a target if Manchester City table a £120 million-plus bid for Enzo Fernández. City haven’t done that. So Chelsea would essentially be spending £80 million on a contingency plan, locking up serious cash on a player who becomes redundant the moment Fernández stays. With Moisés Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, and Morgan Rogers already in the building, that’s a structural mess waiting to happen.
Tactically, it doesn’t fully stack up either. Xabi Alonso runs a double-pivot demanding either a metronomic deep-lying playmaker or a genuine final-product threat. Scott’s 2025/26 output, three goals and one assist across 2,859 minutes, doesn’t scream that profile. His defensive numbers are elite. His final-third efficiency isn’t.
If the Cherries stay rigid at £80 million cash, Alonso should pull out completely and redirect resources toward cost-effective alternatives. Panic-buying out of late-August desperation has burned Chelsea before.