Sky Sports confirm Liverpool monitoring Alex Scott but duel monster should be top priority
Chelsea appear to be leading the charge to sign Alex Scott from Bournemouth.
Florian Plettenberg claims on X (formerly Twitter) that the Blues are “fully focused” on the Cherries midfielder, with a January transfer considered possible.
Liverpool are monitoring Alex Scott along with Chelsea
The Sky Sports Germany journalist went on to add that Liverpool “are also monitoring” the footballer ahead of the winter window.
However, it remains to be seen whether the Reds will be prepared to fork out what will most definitely be a significant sum for the Bournemouth star. Especially when cheaper options, like AS Monaco’s Lamine Camara, are also available on the market.
How much would it cost to sign Scott in January?
For starters, expect to pay a premium in the middle of the season for one of Bournemouth’s key players. The one positive with this potential deal is that Scott’s current terms are set to run out in 2028.
Barring the possibility of a contract extension, a January switch might represent the Cherries’ best chance of securing top dollar for the England international.
Figures of £90m-100m have been quoted, should a club look to make a mid-season swoop. But the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool may be better advised keeping their powder dry until the summer in 2027, when Alex Scott’s price will inevitably fall.
Between Lamine Camara and Scott, there’s an obvious pick
We’ve made no secret of the fact that we’re firm admirers of Camara here at Empire of the Kop.
The Monaco star would be considerably cheaper than his Bournemouth counterpart – even if the Reds were to make a January move for the Senegalese international. More to the point, as we’ve seen with the likes of Jeremy Jacquet and Mamadou Sangare, players from Ligue 1 tend to be very well equipped for the realities of English football.
But from a purely statistical perspective, we feel Lamine Camara simply makes more sense than Alex Scott.
While the Englishman covers a considerable amount of ground and is reasonably well involved at both ends of the pitch, the Monaco star simply ticks more boxes for what Liverpool need at this moment in time. In short, a holding midfielder who naturally stays behind the ball and offers protection in front of the backline.
Coupled with an impressive duel success rate (68.4% per 90, ranking in the 97th percentile, according to FotMob), you’ve got a midfield option that offers security without compromising the space Florian Wirtz occupies in the final third. No such guarantees can be made with Ryan Gravenberch or Dominik Szoboszlai. If anything, playing the pair behind Liverpool’s record midfield signing is more or less tantamount to forfeiting the midfield battle before the first whistle is blown.
While Scott isn’t one to abandon his defensive duties, he simply isn’t as keen to sit behind the ball and let play unfold before him. So why bother forking out a gigantic fee in January for a footballer who doesn’t directly solve one of Liverpool’s biggest concerns this season?
