Young midfielder signed from Stoke is latest youth player to make the switch to SA1
A big Swansea City welcome to Kristian, who's just signed on from Stoke City in what you'd have to assume is a move based very much on the style of football the club plays. 18 years old, he previously went through the Bristol City academy and is the son of ex-Newcastle defender Kevin Scott. He's actually one of two footballing offspring and his younger brother Kyle plays for Chelsea's youth-team, once apparently drawing the attention of Barcelona and Real Madrid.
As for Kristian, he featured for the US U15 side in 2009, before being called up to the U18 squad in March of last year. Domestically, he'd made it into the Bristol City U18 side by the age of 15 and after his father moved from his role as academy scout at Bristol to the same position at the Potters, he followed suit and joined the Stoke City academy.
While researching the young midfielder online, I came across an American "soccer" forum where I learned quite a bit about him, in fairness. One quote of note was someone who'd seen Liverpool Academy vs Stoke Academy, and it remarked that Scott was clearly the most technically gifted player in the Stoke midfield. The player himself tweeted two days ago that he'd officially joined the Swans, and seemed pretty excited about it.- it shows how far we've come that responses to his tweet were of the "wow what a great move for you!" variety.
Another interesting snippet from the US forum stated that the poster knew of Scott as his son had played with him, and during a month-long training camp (possibly when he was called up the the U15's?) Kristian decided to leave to return to Bristol City, as he wasn't impressed by the calibre of the training facilities. Sounds like we've got someone who's serious about improving his game! By moving from Stoke to Swansea you'd surely expect that, as far as an appreciation of an attractive playing style goes, he'll be considerably better off, and what's more he'll also get to train with Michael Laudrup. From the quotes on the official site, he sounds pretty happy to be here:
“I’m really pleased to be here. Swansea is a great club and they play excellent football. The way they play the game suits me and I’m looking forward to try and make an impact in the Under-21 squad.
“This is a good move for me and one I’m really excited about.” Kristian Scott
Read more at http://www.swanseacity.net/news/article/kristian-scott-signs-1031163.aspx?#BDyA3igBXceZhxXv.99
I found a match report from December 2012 where Kristian played in a 4-0 away win over Brighton. With the score at 3-0 he regained possession before apparently chipping the keeper from 40 yards. Ferrie Bodde, anyone? There're also a few articles from the middle of August this year showing that Ireland U19 boss Paul Doolin called him up to the squad for two games with Norway, but due to injury he didn't feature. He qualifies on account of his grandmother, and with three different international options (his father Kevin is English) he really does have the world at his fingertips. Sadly, he confirmed to me on Twitter he doesn't qualify for Wales...
It seems we've signed a player held in high regard by various footballing associations, and one who could well go on to big things. With this summer's additions also including fellow youngsters Alex Gogic, Gregor Zabret & Jernade Meade, it's clear the Swans are looking to bolster their academy and build for the future. Damn right too.
Hopefully it won't be too long until we see him challenging for a place in the first team. Welcome aboard, Kristian.