Bournemouth Chairman: We will continue to discuss the contract extension with Scott.

Bournemouth owner and chairman Bill Foley confirmed on Thursday that the club will continue to negotiate a contract extension with homegrown star Alex Scott.

The 23-year-old Scott primarily plays as a central midfielder, but can also play as an attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder, and right winger. He developed through the youth academies of Southampton and Bournemouth, and early in his professional career, he played for Guernsey and Bristol City in the lower leagues of England.

In August 2023, Scott returned to Bournemouth for a transfer fee of £25 million. To date, he has made 95 appearances for Bournemouth, scoring 7 goals and providing 7 assists.

As previously reported by talkSPORT, several Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Liverpool, have expressed strong interest in Scott. Chelsea even submitted a formal offer of £64 million to Bournemouth this summer, which was promptly rejected by the Cherries.

To mitigate the risk of Scott being poached by top clubs, Bournemouth has recently made several attempts to extend his contract, which expires in 2028. However, Scott prefers a transfer and has rejected the club's contract extension offers.

talkSPORT further points out that Bournemouth no longer insists on considering Scott unsellable. If they receive offers close to £100 million in January, the club does not rule out the possibility of selling him.

In response to growing speculation, Foley addressed the issue directly in an interview with talkSPORT on Thursday: "We are confident that Bournemouth is the best place for Alex to establish himself and stay. We will continue to discuss the contract with him for the remainder of the year."

“We really hope Alex can stay, sign a new contract, and become a long-term member of the team.”

“We haven’t given up, but sometimes players get blinded by seemingly glamorous prospects and think that Chelsea or Manchester City are where they should go.”

"We believe that as long as we continue to improve our infrastructure and establish a unified leadership core throughout the team, we will be able to retain more and more players."

"People may be surprised, but the players can also earn a considerable salary here."

“We must respect the fact that many of our players are relatively young. They often come to Bournemouth hoping to get playing time and perhaps move to a bigger club in the future.”

"My job is to make the players feel comfortable and provide them with the necessary infrastructure."

“We take everything we do seriously. We have now moved into a brand new training center with top-notch facilities.”

“We are satisfied with the current situation and believe we will make progress in retaining key talent. Perhaps not this year, and maybe not next year. However, we are not far from our goal.”

“We must prove to the players that Bournemouth is a place they want to stay and are willing to stay, not a place they want to leave. Only then can we truly build a successful team.”

Image source: Internet/talkSPORT