Alex Scott says his only focus remains on continuing his terrific Bristol City form until the end of the season before assessing his options with a new contract on the table.
Owner Steve Lansdown revealed last month the club have presented the 19-year-old a new deal in the wake of continued transfer interest from Premier League clubs. His current agreement expires in the summer of 2025 but the club want to extend his stay although he is expected to be in high demand at the end of the season.
Such is Scott's maturity both on and off the field, he hasn't let the outside noise affect his performances and is arguably enjoying some of his best form since breaking into the senior set-up two years ago. Former CEO Richard Gould said City rejected "four or five" offers from players in January and indicated Scott was one of them.
Wolves were believed to have the most interest last month but baulked at City's £25million asking price although a whole raft of top-flight clubs will predictably commence a bidding war at the end of the season, especially considering Scott's recent run of performances.
However, his focus remains clear for now and he says his contract and speculation will sort itself out at the end of the campaign. Speaking ahead of Wigan, he said: "I think at the minute, I don't really want to worry about that.
"Like I said, the focus is completely on football and that's the main thing for me. That's all I really think about. When I go home it's about thinking ahead of the next game, the only thing on my mind right now is performing for this club. All of the contract talk and all of that, I'll put that to the side in the summer and then go from there."
The way Scott has dealt with the pressures of maintaining his levels of performance and the constant speculation over his future, is credit to himself but also to the support network he has around him. Certain senior team-mates play a part in that but it also comes down to family - even if he does have to curb his mum's enthusiasm at times.
"Obviously it's impossible to get away from the talk," he added. "I try my best, I don't really read into anything. I tell my mum off when she reads into it and I tell her to leave it alone.
"That will take care of itself whatever happens. Obviously, it's important to have good people around, my dad is massive on that. He's always speaking to me and making sure I don't get ahead of myself and some of the older lads who have been through it for plenty of years - Andi (Weimann), Kingy who I speak with all the time and I'm very close with.
"Having the players here joined with the family at home, it's easy for me to ignore it and focus on my football."
Nobody is under any illusions that the sky is the limit for Scott and in 12 months' time, could realistically be competing for a run of games with a top Premier League side. Leicester City, Everton, Brighton, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Leeds United have all been linked at various times, with more likely to follow.
It won't be long before Scott has a decision to make but he's also opened up on the possibility of playing abroad and following a similar pathway to Jude Bellingham. The former Birmingham City midfielder, who is the same age as Scott, moved to Borussia Dortmund as a 17-year-old in the summer of 2020.
For Scott, the England international has been a trail blazer for young British players thinking about gaining valuable first-team experience abroad and it's something he would consider should the opportunity arise.
"Jude has almost set the bar for any young lad in England to go abroad," Scott said. "I think another lad who was in our Euros squad, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens is at Borussia Dortmund too and he moved over there as a young lad at 16.
"Seeing what they're doing and what they've done playing abroad. I think it motivates a lot of young lads from England who maybe are on a similar path to them to maybe not be afraid to go away from family.
"I think it's becoming a lot more normal for lads from England to go abroad and get their chance because obviously, it's hard to get your chance in the Premier League at a young age over here.
"I think he's (Bellingham) obviously a massive inspiration for any young lad, especially me being a similar age, seeing what he's doing there for England is unheard of really and seeing the talent he's got is special.
"He's one for any young lad, or older lad to take parts of his game and that's something I definitely do and whenever Dortmund are playing, he's the one I'm looking at and watching. It's tough moving to a new country, you don't know the language and you don't know the players on a personal level.
"Just being in your comfort zone is the easy option. So if there's an option to stay in England, I think that's the one that most lads take.
"I think for me, moving from Guernsey to here (aged 16) was a jump, obviously it's the same language and same sort of people but I think that is something I've taken for granted. I think if the opportunity arose abroad, it's not something I would be afraid to do."
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