Alex Scott is the January name to watch at Bournemouth. The i reports that Arsenal have joined Chelsea and Liverpool in contacting Bournemouth about the 23-year-old midfielder, whose contract runs until summer 2028, according to BBC Sport’s Thursday gossip column. No bid, fee or club statement has been reported, so this is an enquiry and nothing more.

Arsenal should want him. They have injury doubts around Saka and a recent run of winger links, but Scott is a different kind of fix: a midfielder who can play deep or high and still cover ground.

What Scott would bring

Sky Sports’ profile of him in July put numbers on the engine. He completed 625 of a possible 630 minutes in the seven games where Bournemouth took points off Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea last season. He ranked third in the Premier League for high-speed runs and made the most tracking runs back into position of any player, according to the figures Sky quoted. His end product is modest, four goals and three assists in 89 league games across three seasons, though one of those goals won the game at the Emirates.

Andoni Iraola’s own description is the best summary of the role. “He is playing as a six, as an eight, as a 10,” the Bournemouth head coach has said. That versatility is the pitch to Mikel Arteta, who already has a long January list to weigh.

Three clubs, one phone call each

No fee or wage figure appears in the BBC summary, and none is reported here. Sky Sports said in July that Scott had turned down a new Bournemouth contract, and that Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United were interested then. Liverpool are the new name in this week’s version.

How much weight to give it

One outlet, relayed by BBC Sport’s gossip column, which is a round-up of what the papers print. The i is a national newspaper and the report names three clubs, but a call to Bournemouth is the earliest stage of interest. None of the three clubs has commented, and Bournemouth have not said whether Scott is for sale in January.

If one of them does move, the window runs from 1 January 2027 and closes at 11pm UK time on 1 February, Arsenal confirmed. Our earlier reports on Arsenal’s wider plans are in Arsenal January Targets: Baena, Nusa and Kroupi, Per Independent (11 November).