Chelsea are interested in signing Alex Scott from Bournemouth in a bid to boost their midfield during the January transfer window
Alex Scott.
Alex Scott could still join Chelsea before the season's end(Image: Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
View 2 Images
Alex Scott's market value on Transfermarkt has jumped by £20million ahead of Chelsea making a potential move for him in January.
The Bournemouth midfielder has been subject to major transfer speculation over the summer, with the Blues seeing a £64m bid turned down. At the time, the Cherries told those interested in Scott - which included Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal - to not make any approaches for the 23-year-old.
Now, things have changed. Scott has rejected the opportunity to sign a new deal with Bournemouth and the club's stance appears to have softened after final talks with his agents.
With that in mind, the Blues will turn to their transfer budget to potentially allocate some space for Scott's fee. According to Transfermarkt, the midfielder's value has risen by £20m to a whopping £60m (€70m), up from £40m (€50m).
Despite this jump, the Cherries are reportedly still demanding a fee that exceeds Scott's current market value. football.london understands interested coulds would have to be put forward offers in the region of £100million in order for the club to take an approach seriously.
Get YOUR Chelsea Newsletter
All the best news, features, updates and analysis from Bobby Vincent and more straight to your Inbox!
Yours in just two simple steps.
Head THIS WAY
Enter your email and hit Subscribe.
Make sure you never miss the latest Chelsea news and opinion by making Football London one of your Google preferred sources.
The 23-year-old is spending some time on the sidelines after worsening a thigh tendon injury while away on international duty with England. The midfielder made his full senior debut under Thomas Tuchel during the September break, coming on against the Czech Republic and starting in the Three Lions' 7-0 thrashing of Croatia.
It initially looked like Scott could be out for up to eight weeks but boss Marco Rose is confident he will return sooner than the original timeframe. The Bournemouth boss said: "We did an MRI and the pictures looked really well. His progression, his healing, is in a good way. Better than we expected.
"It means not that he is ready for Sunderland or next week but we can progress his rehab training, we can bring him back on the pitch to see how he responds. We are not talking about six to eight weeks anymore. We are quite confident that we get him back maybe a little bit earlier."
Alex Scott.
Scott has refused to sign a new deal(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
View 2 Images
Rose also commented on Scott's future at the club, insisting the midfielder is committed to cause despite rumours growing over a January exit. He 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 [of the season]."
Reaffirming this stance in his pre-Sunderland press conference, Rose added: "I said it yesterday, we just closed one transfer window and now we're talking about the next one. If you see Alex Scott in the first games [of the season] playing for Bournemouth, he is totally committed with the team.
"I don't want to comment and you said many times 'if'. If he is back, he's playing for Bournemouth."
Liverpool are also considering a move for Scott with Andoni Iraola keen to bring the midfielder who he is familiar with from his time at the Vitality Stadium. The Blues may have to shift a serious fee to the Cherries if they are to beat their Premier League rivals to the 23-year-old's signature.