Alex Scott rejects Bournemouth contract; Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd
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- Alex Scott rejected Bournemouth's new contract offer — on the table for at least two months — and clubs including Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea hold an interest in the midfielder.
- Bournemouth remain steadfast that Scott is not for sale and have publicly insisted to both the player and suitors that he will stay on the south coast, even on his existing deal, despite reported talk of an £80m valuation.
- Bournemouth are under no financial pressure to sell after qualifying for the Europa League and banking significant income from summer sales of Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez, Illia Zabarnyi and Dango Outtara, and they are taking the same hard line with forward Junior Kroupi amid Arsenal and Tottenham interest.
- Scott has two years remaining on a contract signed when he joined from Bristol City in 2023 for £25m; he has since made 89 appearances, scored six goals, and helped the club finish sixth in 2025-26 to clinch a European place for the first time.
- BBC Sport reported in June that Arsenal had an approach for Scott turned down, and the broader Premier League midfielder market this summer has seen Elliot Anderson and Morgan Rogers set for £116m and £117m moves to Manchester City and Chelsea respectively, with Tottenham spending £100m on Sandro Tonali.
- Scott has joined Bournemouth's pre-season training camp in Austria under new manager Marco Rose, having been called into Thomas Tuchel's extended pre-World Cup training camp but yet to make a senior England appearance.
Why it matters: Bournemouth now face a familiar power struggle: hold an asset who doesn't want to extend, or sell on their terms before his value depreciates. With two years left and elite rivals circling, the Cherries' financial strength from Europe qualification and recent sales gives them leverage — but only if Scott doesn't replicate his peers' path to nine-figure fees in a midfielder market that has already priced Anderson and Rogers above £115m.
