Glen Johnson believes Alex Scott could be the 'real deal' but has warned Chelsea against moving too quickly to sign the talented England midfielder.
Scott arrived at Bournemouth from Bristol City in 2023 and has established himself as one of the most sought-after central midfielders in the Premier League over the last three years. The Guernsey-born 23-year-old narrowly missed out on Thomas Tuchel's squad for the World Cup but made his England debut against Czechia in Prague last week.
Scott was the subject of intense speculation over the summer, with Arsenal and Chelsea both seeing approaches for the midfielder rejected by Bournemouth. The Cherries maintain they will not entertain any bids for Scott in January and have placed an £80million valuation on the young midfielder.
Johnson urges patience over Scott
But former Blues defender Johnson believes Chelsea should not be itching to sign Scott, and should instead let him develop further before trying to lure him to Stamford Bridge.
'When I've seen him play, he looks likely to be the real deal,' Johnson told football.london. 'Obviously, there's still a lot of question marks.'
'You know, we've seen loads and loads of players have a flash in the pan and then fall away, which I hope isn't the case for him.'
'But there's definitely a lot more to prove and a lot more to show than saying, 'he's our man, go get him already'.'
Poyet highlights Chelsea midfield issues
While Johnson believes Chelsea should not be in a rush to sign Scott, former Blues midfielder Gus Poyet is clear that the club's current options in the middle of the park are a real problem for Xabi Alonso.
'The biggest problem of Chelsea is their two central midfielders,' Poyet told Metro via betting sites.
'When you start the season thinking that you're too holding midfielders are going to be £100m Caicedo and £100m Enzo Fernandez, and then all of a sudden one is injured and the other one is gone, then you have a problem.'
'And I think that those two central midfielder positions is the balance between the team attacking well and defending well, and it's been struggling there.'
'It's been Reece James who's been playing there, Lavia and Barco who's been playing there, but you don't have those two proper Keane or Vieira type.'
'So there is a situation that you need that kind of unity, and Chelsea without those main key players has been very difficult.'
