Alex Scott: Key Target for Liverpool Under Iraola

Liverpool’s reset under Andoni Iraola may be about to take a very familiar shape for the new manager – with Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott rapidly moving from rumour to serious agenda item at Anfield.

The 22-year-old, one of the Premier League’s most highly regarded young midfielders, is understood to be firmly on Liverpool’s list as they attempt to repair a season that ended with enough disappointment to cost Arne Slot his job. Iraola’s appointment last week has already shifted the conversation around what comes next. Scott’s name keeps coming back.

Reports suggest Liverpool are weighing up a £40 million offer for the Bournemouth playmaker, a figure that sits some distance below the Cherries’ valuation of around £60m. That gap is significant, but not insurmountable in a market where top-end midfielders rarely move cheaply, especially those still years from their peak.

This is not a link plucked from thin air. Scott flourished under Iraola on the south coast, and the relationship between player and coach is central to the story. Journalist Jamie Dickenson has already suggested that Iraola could look to make Scott his first signing of the summer, a statement that fits both the football logic and the timing of Liverpool’s rebuild.

The interest is not one-sided across the league either. Manchester United and Tottenham are both tracking Scott, with the latter holding a small emotional card: he supported Spurs as a boy. Sentiment, though, rarely wins auctions at the top of the game. Opportunity and project do.

‘Noise is growing’ around Scott move

Inside the transfer market, the volume is rising. talkSPORT’s transfer insider Alex Crook has described the situation as “one to watch”, underlining that the speculation has substance behind it rather than being the usual early-window scatter.

Crook pointed directly at Liverpool’s midfield as a key fault line last season. Ryan Gravenberch never fully convinced. Alexis Mac Allister, a high-class operator, often looked stretched trying to be creator, controller and firefighter all at once. The balance wasn’t right, and it showed in the games that mattered.

Scott, in contrast, offers energy, press resistance and a tactical intelligence that Iraola knows how to weaponise. That familiarity matters. When a new manager walks into a dressing room of established stars and big personalities, having at least one trusted lieutenant can accelerate the shift in style and standards.

Bournemouth are not passive in all this. The club are keen to tie Scott down to a new contract, a move that would strengthen their hand in negotiations and send a message about their own ambitions. For now, he remains their “star man”, a label that carries a price.

Scott’s view of Iraola: ‘great manager’

The respect between player and coach runs both ways. In recent comments, Scott spoke glowingly about Iraola and the transformation he oversaw at Bournemouth.

“What can Liverpool expect from Iraola? He is obviously a great manager,” Scott said, pointing to the progress Bournemouth made across the three seasons they worked together. He highlighted the intensity and structure of Iraola’s approach out of possession – an aggressive, front-foot style that will sound familiar to anyone who watched Jürgen Klopp’s early Liverpool sides tear through opponents.

“I think the way we press out of possession is very aggressive, maybe similar to the early Klopp teams Liverpool had, that fierce aggressiveness and pressing with the wingers,” Scott explained. “I would say he is similar to that. Liverpool fans should definitely be so excited. He has done a lot for me personally.”

Those words cut to the heart of why this potential move has caught fire so quickly. Scott has already operated within Iraola’s demanding system. He understands the triggers, the distances, the risk and reward. For Liverpool, who want to rediscover their edge without losing control, that kind of plug-and-play understanding is invaluable.

Crowded market, clear statement

Liverpool are not short of targets. The club are also credited with interest in £100m-rated RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande, a reminder that the recruitment department is still looking at big-ticket attacking options while Iraola is tasked with maximising last summer’s huge outlay – a £415m spree on names such as Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and others.

Yet the Scott pursuit feels different. Less like a marquee splash, more like a structural decision. A manager picking a player he trusts to set the tone for what comes next.

For now, Scott is in Miami with Thomas Tuchel’s England squad, his stock rising in the background while the market circles. Bournemouth want to keep him. United and Spurs are watching. Liverpool are calculating how far they are willing to go.

If Iraola decides Scott is the cornerstone of his new midfield, the question won’t be whether Liverpool move – but how hard they’re prepared to push to reunite manager and protege on Merseyside.