West Ham United well positioned to sign Taylor Harwood-Bellis amid new £15m ‘Dramatic’ transfer development
West Ham United are now facing competition from Leeds United as well as Fulham in their pursuit of Taylor Harwood-Bellis from Manchester City but the Hammers will feel they are best placed to secure his signature.
According to newspaper journalist Alan Nixon (30 July), “progress is slowing down dramatically” on his expected exit because City aren’t willing to reduce the £15m fee for the “classy” defender despite him not yet starting a Premier League game.
Tutto Mercato Web had reported on 22 July that a West Ham deal for the young centre-back was “almost done” and that “white smoke” could be just hours away but given new interest from Fulham and Leeds United, a move for the European Championship-winning defender could prove a stumbling block.
The highly-rated centre-back proved an absolute revelation on loan at Burnley under Vincent Kompany’s guidance last season forming the heart of their defence in their impressive race towards Premier League football, registering a goal and two assists from 32 Sky Bet Championship games.
Before following up that impressive Championship feat by captaining the England under-21s as they lifted the European Championship trophy after a hard-thought 1-0 victory over Spain on Saturday (8 July).
According to BBC Sport (10 July), West Ham United will have to pay £15m for Harwood-Bellis’ services this summer, with a “number of Premier League clubs” also interested, but the Hammers must feel they are well-positioned to secure his signature despite the various interest.
After Declan Rice’s £100m sale, the Hammers certainly have cash in the back to seal a much-needed defensive transfer and the England Under-21 international certainly seems the ideal target given his homegrown status, age profile, stark potential and readiness to compete at the top level.
More crucially, in comparison to Fulham and Leeds United, West Ham United possess the prospect of European football in the new campaign which could prove a certain tempting incentive when trying to lure away fresh young talents in the transfer market and that may be the ideal step up for Harwood-Bellis after his summer exploits for England.
Following the appointment of Steidten as new West Ham United technical director, the German is certainly well-versed and decorated in acquiring attractive young names at bargain prices for clubs he’s worked before, most notably, at Bayer Leverkusen handing David Moyes another bargaining chip in potentially beating other suitors to his signature.
West Ham desperately need defensive reinforcements, having struggled with a huge number of injury problems last season, drastically causing their disappointing form in the Premier League.
Angelo Ogbonna, Kurt Zouma, Thilo Kehrer and Nayef Aguerd all endured periods on the treatment table last year, and it’s why the reports have emerged over the past month linking the Irons with the likes of Harwood-Bellis, Real Betis’ Luiz Felipe and AS Roma’s Roger Ibanez.
Harwood-Bellis is certainly an attractive proposition, given his incredible current ability and potential to grow even further. The 21-year-old is highly-regarded at the Etihad but his immediate future in Manchester is uncertain with his current contract due to expire next summer, and that has alerted a number of clubs to his situation.
At £15m, he could prove an absolute snip despite his lack of Premier Leagues experience. While Leeds and Fulham may find that sort of cash difficult to contend with, that price should be no problem for West Ham United considering the current going rate for top-quality defenders in the market.
An incredibly gifted centre-back possessing excellent qualities on the ball, aggressive and combative in his duel winning as well as being a very capable presence in the air, the 21-year-old possesses all the makings to become a high-level Premier League centre-back and a player the club should be fighting.
Harwood-Bellis, recently dubbed a “warrior” by Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray, was an absolute rock at the heart of Burnley’s backline this season and is strong on and off the ground, where he averaged 3.3 clearances and 3.1 aerial duel successes per league game, via WhoScored while also averaging 1.8 interceptions, 1.1 tackles per game and was only dribbled past on average 0.2 times per game.
He followed that up with some solid and mature performances at the Under-21 European Championships alongside Chelsea’s Levi Colwill once again showing why he is heavily regarded as one of the best young centre-backs in the country, averaging a phenomenal Sofascore rating of 7.26 and won an impressive 86% of his ground duels, while also boasting a 90% pass accuracy.
He’s surely a no-brainer and risk-free addition for Moyes and Steidten. Get it done.
In other West Ham news, agents are “frustrated” at the “haphazard” and “underwhelming” Irons behaviour in the market this summer.