Bournemouth owner Bill Foley has said the club are 'convinced' they remain the 'right place' for midfielder Alex Scott, even though the player may have 'stars in his eyes' amid reported interest from Chelsea and Manchester City.
Scott has become one of the Premier League's most sought-after midfielders since joining Bournemouth from Bristol City in 2023. The 23-year-old impressed at the heart of the Cherries' midfield and was unfortunate to miss out on a place in Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad in the summer.
However, Scott was recalled by Tuchel last month and made his England debut as a second-half substitute in the Nations League victory over the Czech Republic in Prague. He then started in England's 7-0 win over Croatia in Rijeka, impressing alongside Elliot Anderson.
Injury and Transfer Speculation
Scott's stock has risen in recent months, but he faces up to eight weeks on the sidelines with a thigh injury. Despite this, speculation over his future continues, with reports suggesting Bournemouth could consider offers in excess of £80 million this winter.
Speaking to talkSPORT's Alex Crook, Foley addressed the rumours: 'I don't want to sell anyone at any time, anywhere. I have to defer to Tiago [Pinto], my President of Football, and he comes to me with his ideas and his plans.'
'At this point, we're convinced that we're the right place for Alex to be, for Alex to stay, and we'll keep on addressing contract issues with Alex as we move through this year.'
Foley's Stance on Player Retention
Foley acknowledged that some players may be tempted by bigger clubs. 'We'd love to have Alex stay here, sign a new contract and be part of this team for the long haul, and we're still working on it. We haven't given up. But sometimes players get stars in their eyes and they think that Chelsea is the right place to go or Manchester City.'
Bournemouth sold Antoine Semenyo to City midway through last season for a fee in the region of £65 million. Foley said of the move: 'I hated to lose Semenyo, what a great guy he was. But to show you his [Semenyo] character, he didn't have to play those last two games with us. He stayed, he played and he scored a winning goal in the very last game.'
Foley added: 'We believe that if we keep on providing an infrastructure, a common thread of leadership across this team, then we'll start keeping more and more players. People will be surprised about that and they'll be able to earn substantial wages here because we're close, we're very close.'
Wages and January Plans
Asked if wages of £100,000-a-week could soon be 'commonplace' at Bournemouth, Foley responded: 'I think earning that kind of numbers at Bournemouth should be commonplace and we should be prepared to meet that challenge.'
He stressed the need for increased revenue through hospitality, sponsorship, and fan engagement to support such wages. 'That's the way we have the cashflow to really maintain what we've already started. We've got a long way to go. We're not nearly finished at this point.'
Bournemouth sit 15th in the Premier League after a difficult start under Marco Rose, with just one point from their opening seven matches. Foley is confident that adding 'one or two key players' in January could lead to a 'successful' second half of the season.
'I'm going to meet with Tiago [Pinto] after our team photo today and we're going to start talking about the January transfer window, looking at our needs,' Foley explained. 'We have a very good team and we're happy with the team. But if we can supplement it this January with one or two other key players and we keep on developing the players we have, we'll have a very successful second half of the season and I'm actually very, very confident about that.'
