“He is becoming a very, very complete player,” was Andoni Iraola’s assessment after Alex Scott scored to seal a 2-1 Premier League away win against Arsenal in April.

After two seasons curtailed by knee injuries, Scott found his best form in 2025-26, featuring in all but one of Bournemouth’s 38 league games, having helped England retain the Under-21 European Championship last summer. He made England’s expanded senior squad for their pre-World Cup friendlies this June, too.

The 22-year-old midfielder has gone from strength to strength since playing in the eighth tier of English football as recently as 2019. That has led to interest from Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal this summer, with The Athletic reporting this week that Chelsea have had an offer for him rejected.

Scott is contracted to Bournemouth until 2028 and rejected their recent offer of a new deal, but the club expect him to stay with them past the end of the current transfer window on September 1.

The Athletic explains why some of England’s top clubs are after him, and where he would fit best.

Why are these teams interested in Scott?

Competing in the Premier League as currently constructed requires teams to have intelligent midfielders with ceaseless engines and defensive awareness. It is why Arsenal and Manchester City have spent more than £100million on Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson respectively in recent years.

Scott is four years Rice’s junior and a year younger than Anderson, but his experience playing in the setup partly responsible for altering the Premier League’s tactical landscape makes up for that. Iraola’s Bournemouth prioritised high-energy midfielders with ball-carrying prowess, physicality and the ability to force quick turnovers. Scott has all those qualities plus the versatility to play in a double pivot or central midfield or as a No 10, and has improved every season.

A good example of how some of those attributes come together can be seen below, against Burnley in March.

Scott is in an advanced position as Bournemouth search for a late winner, but when they lose the ball, he knows where the next pass is going even before Burnley complete their previous one. A sprint and a shoulder-barge later, he has possession back.

Having done so, Scott carries towards goal, waits for the first defender to commit by taking two quick steps without touching the ball before sliding past him infield.

He then does a stepover to draw another defender and then another with his right foot before pushing the ball with his left to get on the outside again.

As a third Burnley player engages, Scott looks straight ahead but passes to David Brooks on his left to create a crossing chance with another four of their team-mates in the 18-yard box.

Scott is patient but decisive as a player and that is highly valuable, especially against teams who man-mark.

It also helped Bournemouth with moving between the thirds, like in the example below against Sunderland in February. Scott once again waits for a first and second defender to commit and beats them before opponent number three barges him in the back.

Only Nottingham Forest’s Anderson and Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle, another Arsenal target this summer, won more fouls than Scott’s 1.95 per 90 minutes among Premier League central and defensive midfielders last season.

His defensive acumen improved under Iraola, too.

Bournemouth often transitioned between zonal and man-marking systems and their central midfielders were crucial to this approach — one ill-timed jump could result in the opposition bearing down on the back four.

Here in December’s 4-4 draw away to Manchester United, Scott is initially tracking Bruno Fernandes, but Marcus Tavernier slides across to pick him up as Evanilson moves ahead to press Leny Yoro.

As the ball goes back, Scott settles into a zonal position protecting his back four, with Justin Kluivert pressing the man in possession and Antoine Semenyo ready to press the sideways pass. But this frees up opponent Casemiro in the middle.

Scott spots this and sprints to close down the Brazilian, which prompts Adrien Truffert to also get touch-tight to Matheus Cunha.

Casemiro finds Cunha, but Truffert gets a foot in, and Scott recovers the loose ball.

Scott has become a sharp reader of the game under Iraola, while his pace means he can defend larger spaces, too.

He is not the tallest, standing at 5ft 9in (178cm), but times his leaps well, with his 1.5 headed clearances in his own box per 90 last season ranking fourth among Premier League midfielders.

Scott is also willing to throw himself in the way of shots. Only seven midfielders in the division blocked more shots last season than his 15, but the 1.6 cumulative xG (expected goals, a measure of chance quality) of his blocked shots was the highest.

… and which club would he fit best?

Arsenal’s pursuits of Guimaraes and Morgan Rogers, who has now joined Chelsea from Aston Villa for £117million, suggest they want to add more ball-carrying ability to their midfield. Scott would bring that and could prove a useful deputy to Rice, who battled injury during the World Cup after a gruelling 55-match club campaign.

Scott does not have much experience as the lone holding midfielder, so using him alongside Martin Zubimendi, a natural progressive passer, would maximise his qualities. But that would mean leaving out Martin Odegaard, who is crucial to Arsenal’s pressing game and offers the incisive passing from midfield they often lack.

Joining Manchester United, on paper, would provide a cleaner path to starter status.

Youri Tielemans’ recent £35million arrival from Villa ensures United have a tempo-setting passer at the base of midfield, while Andrey Santos, signed from Chelsea earlier this month for an initial £48m, will provide passing from deep and defensive tenacity. However, they still require depth, athleticism and physicality in midfield.

Scott ticks those boxes and offers a slightly more diverse set of off-ball runs (cross receiving and lateral runs in particular) than Kobbie Mainoo, as seen below. His comfort in wider spaces could also allow Cunha, Fernandes and Bryan Mbeumo to operate in the half-spaces, where they create the most danger.

Scott could theoretically rotate with Fernandes, with United returning to the Champions League in 2026-27. His passing is not at the level of the 2025-26 assist leader, with Scott at his best when involved in short, quick interchanges that create space for him to carry the ball. But his profile would give head coach Michael Carrick more options and, should the Premier League continue to move towards fast, direct football, Scott, with a little more refining, could become United’s long-term successor to Fernandes, who will be 32 in early September.

Chelsea would probably be a clunkier fit.

What system their new manager Xabi Alonso will use remains unknown, but his previous success at Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen was facilitated by pairing a tempo-setter in Granit Xhaka with an athletic, defensively-sound wingman in Exequiel Palacios or Robert Andrich.

Chelsea’s approach for Xhaka, which was rejected by his current club Sunderland, in June spoke to the absence of that player profile in their squad.

Romeo Lavia has shown he is capable of playing that role but has started only 15 Premier League games in three seasons due to repeated injuries. Rogers and Enzo Fernandez are at their best further up the pitch, but the latter’s future at Stamford Bridge is still up in the air.

Neither Rogers nor Fernandez — or indeed Scott — are progressive passers.

Yes, the Bournemouth midfielder would add depth, but establishing himself as a starter for Chelsea, and then thriving there, may prove challenging.

The rotten culture that is seeping ever deeper into football was exemplified by the announcement that one of the game’s most successful referees had retired.

Anthony Taylor’s decision to end his illustrious career sparked an outpouring of gratitude and respect from his colleagues that was overwhelmed by widespread derision from some football supporters.

On X, the NY Knicks star and celebrity Chelsea fan Josh Hart responded to the news by simply tweeting “Thank the lord” to his 750,000 followers, prompting 34,000 likes and rising.

Does Hart have a case? Well, in the past four seasons, Taylor refereed Chelsea 15 times and they lost just twice, which hardly suggests bias.

Over the same period, he sent off one player in blue, and that was only after a VAR intervention — Taylor’s instinct was to let Moises Caicedo stay on the pitch against Arsenal last season, until he watched replays proving that would be a mistake.

His sole grievous error was in August 2022, when he did not spot Cristian Romero pull the hair of Marc Cucurella late in Chelsea’s home game with Tottenham Hotspur. Instead, Spurs were allowed to take a corner, from which Harry Kane equalised. But that was more a failure of VAR, which saw the incident but decided to keep quiet.

Of course, many fans of clubs are so delusional that the facts are irrelevant. They will go back further in time, or cite correct calls that they did not like, or point to the smaller decisions on more mundane matters that might have swayed a result. And as a former colleague of Taylor’s, I would say all of this, wouldn’t I?

But the evidence shows that if Taylor really was trying to swing matches against Chelsea, he wasn’t very good at it.

Next there’s the commonly held view that he must support one of the two Manchester clubs, hailing as he does from just down the road. I don’t just think that is untrue; I know it is.

I have witnessed at first hand his affection for Altrincham, who usually inhabit the fifth tier of English football. I have sat with him while watching one of their rare televised games and seen how much he cares about their fortunes.

Taylor has been one of England’s leading referees (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

Taylor deserves better. His career spanned 20 years, during which he represented his country 163 times in international matches, winning more ‘caps’ than any England men’s player. He reached multiple finals and would have gone further in recent tournaments had the national team not reached the last four so often.

Like all referees, he started on his local parks, for meagre rewards, out of a love for the game. It typically takes 15 years to reach the Premier League, as the extended career ladder can only be climbed one rung at a time, but he achieved his goal in 2010.

Progress requires talent, dedication, sacrifice and luck, combined with levels of resilience that few people possess.

No one forces us to perform the role, the financial rewards for those who make the international list are considerable, and for the most part the enjoyment found on the field makes up for the plentiful aggro off it.

Taylor enjoyed being a referee, but hated being a VAR, and quickly decided it was not for him. He supported the use of technology and never minded being sent to the pitchside monitor if one of his decisions needed review, as he always wanted to see justice done. Perhaps that sense drove his earlier career as a prison officer.

He was not always right and made his fair share of mistakes, but he never shied away from a decision or left it to VAR. Taylor called it as he saw it, stuck to his guns if he knew he was right, but avoided doubling down if there was any doubt.

By striking this balance and always speaking in the right tone to everyone he encountered, Taylor earned the respect of players and coaches. Most would have rather had him in charge of their games than just about anyone else.

Anthony Taylor always had the respect of his fellow officials (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Like all the best refs, his measure of success was being able to slip away from the stadium unnoticed, having facilitated a good game that had been enjoyable to watch.

Sometimes that was impossible, such as when he was accosted in a car park by Jose Mourinho and at the airport by Roma fans after the 2023 Europa League final, but not for lack of trying.

I worked on 25 matches with Taylor, usually as his fourth official. When the roles were reversed, he could not have been more supportive, offering his input while respecting my right to referee the game as I saw fit. I’d have happily worked with him every week.

Off the field, in the latter stages of his career, he assumed the role of leader of the refereeing team off the field, raising grievances (official and otherwise), speaking truth to power (to his employers and the Premier League) and putting a protective arm around refs having a tough time (all of us at some point).

Whatever he does next, doubtless he will carry the same values and qualities into his future ventures, and so will garner even more respect.

Having begun in 1930 as the British Empire Games, the Commonwealth Games face questions about their place and relevance in the modern world.

England weightlifter Emily Campbell told the BBC the Games are “one of the best things that came out of colonisation” while three-time Olympic swimming gold medallist Tom Dean insists they can be a “force for good” despite the difficult past.

“It is even more reason to push the Commonwealths into the spotlight because it shows the best side of sport,” he told BBC Sport.

However, the Glasgow edition has been hit by the absence of star names.

Injuries, such as those to Olympic gold-medal winning gymnast Max Whitlock and Australia’s Olympic backstroke champion Kaylee McKeown, are unavoidable and unfortunate.

But other athletes have opted to prioritise different events.

Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson is skipping Glasgow in favour of the European Athletics Championships, which start in Birmingham on 10 August and are arguably the bigger track and field event this summer.

Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest British woman in history, is only competing in the relay in Glasgow and Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred of St Lucia has also pulled out. Canadian swimming superstar Summer McIntosh is another notable absentee.

But it is not all doom and gloom.

Josh Kerr, fresh from breaking the mile world record, will return to home soil to race for Scotland, as will McColgan.

Katerina Johnson-Thompson is chasing her third Commonwealth heptathlon title in a row and Adam Ramsay-Peaty returns to the same pool in which he won two golds in 2014.

The Commonwealth Games remain a pinnacle for sports like netball and there is also an increased focus on Para-sport, with this the most integrated Games ever.

Six of the 10 sports include Para-competitions with a Commonwealth Games record 47 medal events. Golds, silvers and bronzes won in Para-events will, unlike with other multi-sport events, count towards the overall medal total.

“There are not many opportunities for the integration of multi-sports [events],” Paralympic swimming champion Brock Whiston told BBC Sport.

“Without the Commonwealth Games, the smaller countries don’t get the chance to show how powerful that integration is.

“The Commonwealth Games is vital to ensuring there are equal opportunities.”

English swimmer James Guy, another Olympic champion who will be at his fourth Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, told BBC Sport the event remains a crucial part of an athlete’s development.

“It is a bit easier to make than the GB team,” he said.

“It is a really good way to get on there, get on a relay and get a medal and that is really important for development so the younger guys and girls can progress.”