Chelsea must not make a move for Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott before deciding on the futures of their own engine-room enforcers, a Blues legend has exclusively told Sports Mole.

Chelsea are believed to have identified Scott as their leading January transfer target, after trying and failing to lure the England international away from the Vitality Stadium during the summer transfer window.

Chelsea are supposedly 'completely focused' on signing Scott over the winter, although Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United have not yet given up hope of winning the race either.

Bournemouth owner Bill Foley recently delivered an update on Scott's future, insisting that the Cherries have not given up hope of tying him to a new deal beyond 2028, but admitting that young players can sometimes get "stars in their eyes".

Asked by Sports Mole whether Scott could fill Enzo Fernandez's boots at Chelsea, Gus Poyet gave the transfer his seal of approval but implored his former club to sort out which of their midfielders can be moved on first.

What Chelsea must do before signing Alex Scott

"I like the player," Poyet said. "I have seem him a lot and I think he is a very good player. Chelsea need to first decide on the players at the club first, before looking to sign anyone else.

"They have to decide what the future is as they have Caicedo, Lavia, James and others in the centre of midfield, so they must identify who will be the main starters and then move forward on whether Scott is the player they want and then who will then move on."

Scott previously spent one season in the Bournemouth academy between 2016 and 2017, before making a name for himself at Bristol City and earning a return to the Cherries in 2023 for £19.2m.

The midfielder has since scored seven goals and set up seven more for Bournemouth across all tournaments, while winning his first two senior England caps during the September/October international break.

However, it was on Scott's first start for England against Croatia that he aggravated his hamstring injury, and it remains to be seen if he is selected for Thomas Tuchel's November squad.

What is the situation with Chelsea's current midfielders?

Chelsea currently have five recognised central midfielders on the books in Moises Caicedo, Valentin Barco, Jordan Henderson, Romeo Lavia and Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, while Reece James and Malo Gusto can fill in if required.

The fledgling Nicoll-Jazuli is only 16 years of age, though, and will likely spend another two or three years either developing with the youth team or out on loan regardless of whether Chelsea sign Scott.

Henderson - 20 years Nicoll-Jazuli's senior - is only under contract until 2028, at which point he will be 38 years old, and it is difficult to envisage the Englishman sticking around for longer than 24 months.

Meanwhile, Barco and Caicedo's contracts run to 2033, while the injury-plagued Lavia is tied down to 2030 and has shown signs of a revival alongside Caicedo in recent weeks.

If Scott were to arrive in January, the 23-year-old should immediately battle Lavia to partner Caicedo in Xabi Alonso's engine room, with Barco and Henderson providing youthful and experienced backup options.