Alex Scott has received superlatives from all footballing quarters with the Championship Young Player of the Year award the cherry on top of another brilliant season for Bristol City.
Nigel Pearson is in no doubt that the 19-year-old will go on to play for England one day in the future and for those who have watched him glide across the pitch in full flow, you certainly wouldn't bet against it.
A move to the Premier League awaits, likely to be this summer, and the game against Burnley at Ashton Gate on Saturday may well be the final opportunity supporters get to see him in a red shirt in BS3.
Where his career takes him in the game, that's difficult to predict given the nature of football, but City fans will be watching with intrigue in the future, with the expectancy that he will go to the very top.
Scott broke into the first-team picture at the end of the 2020/21 campaign, playing in the final three matches of the season before quickly establishing his place in the following campaign with 38 league appearances. This season, only Zak Vyner (3,823) has earned more Championship minutes on the pitch to Scott's 3,234.
It's rare a player of Scott's age has made over 80 league appearances. For example, no other player under the age of 20 has played more minutes in the Championship this season with Coventry's Callum Doyle next in line having made 37 starts and spent 3,226 minutes on the pitch.
His experience and potential have been further emphasised in a recent study by the CIES Football Observatory, who have listed the top 200 talents aged 20 or under across 75 leagues in the world. They based their studies on relative match experience over the last 365 days.
According to the site, the ranking "was established according to the experience capital method, taking into account the minutes played in official games during the last 365 days, the sporting level of the matches and the results. Furthermore, the experience capital was related to the average measured for players of the same age and position, which allows us to present a relative score."
Having selected the top 20 players for 10 different positions, only three other central midfielders across those 75 leagues have more relative match experience - two being Barcelona and Spain prodigy Pablo Gavi and Borussia Dortmund and England sensation Jude Bellingham.
Only those two talents have played more minutes over the last year, Bellingham at 4,558, Gavi at 4,359, with Scott at 4,355. The other player ahead of Scott with a higher relative experience is Andrey Santos who plays for the Brazilian side Vasco da Gama on loan from Chelsea.
Only one other midfielder playing in England makes the list in Queens Park Rangers midfielder Tim Iroegbunam, on loan from Aston Villa, and who Bristol City were understood to be keen on signing last summer.
Scott's stock has continued to rise throughout the season His consistent levels of performance have earned high praise from the likes of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Jack Grealish following their FA Cup tie, while he continues to be watched by a host of Premier League clubs.
City will ask for a minimum of £25million to let him leave this summer, although that figure could rise depending on how many Premier League clubs follow up with their interest. Liverpool were the latest club linked but over half a dozen top flight clubs are thought to be interested, including Wolves and Tottenham.
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
READ NEXT
