Bournemouth owner Bill Foley insists they have ‘not given up’ trying to convince Alex Scott to sign a new contract with them and snub his interest from Chelsea.
Per sources, Chelsea made at least three offers for the 23-year-old midfielder in the summer with their highest bid worth £68million. Bournemouth insisted throughout the last window that he was not for sale, and it is now known they value him north of £100m ahead of January.
Foley spoke openly about Scott’s situation when asked. The 81-year-old American even name-checked his Stamford Bridge counterparts when conceding ‘sometimes players get stars in their eyes and they think Chelsea is the right place to go’.
However, Foley believes Bournemouth are close to being in a place where they no longer have to sell their star men, and he is still trying to have Scott stay with them.
‘I don’t want to sell anyone at any time anywhere,’ Foley said, in an interview with talkSPORT teeing up Bournemouth’s Europa League home clash with AC Milan.
‘Now I have to defer to Tiago (Pinto), my president of football, and he really comes to me with his ideas and his plans. At this point, we’re convinced we’re the right place for Alex to be, for Alex to stay. We’ll keep on addressing contract issues with Alex as we move through this year.
Bournemouth value Alex Scott north of £100m in January – with Chelsea showing interest
‘We’d love to have Alex stay here and sign a new contract and be a 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 Chelsea is the right place to go, or Man City. We hated to lose (Antoine) Semenyo. What a great guy he was. But to show you his character, he didn’t have to play those last two games with us. He stayed, and he played, and he scored a winning goal in the very last game.’
Scott’s current contract with Bournemouth runs until 2028 and he has so far resisted signing a new deal despite the efforts of those inside the Vitality Stadium. He is currently sidelined by a quad problem picked up while representing England in the last international break.
Chelsea sources claim they have not been back for Scott since the summer despite speculation of ongoing talks over a price, but their interest in him remains, and they are expected to move for him in January. Despite Bournemouth insisting they want £100m-plus, it could take an offer worth around £90m to sign him this winter.
Foley also discussed how Bournemouth believe they are close to becoming a club that does not need to sell big names such as Scott or Semenyo, who joined City for around £65m.
‘We’re close,’ Foley said. ‘We have to respect the fact that a lot of our players are younger, they’ve come to Bournemouth on the expectation that they’ll get time to play and perhaps move on to a bigger team and we recognise that. We’re happy with where we are, and we believe we’ll start making progress in terms of retaining key talent.
‘It may not be this year, it may not be next year in terms of everyone, but we’re close. We have to prove to the players that this is the place they want to be, and that they want to stay, and don’t want to move on.’
