Manchester City want bidding war as West Ham United and Fulham want to sign Taylor Harwood-Bellis
Manchester City are hoping to spark a bidding war between West Ham and Fulham to sell Taylor Harwood-Bellis, according to the Evening Standard (11 July).
The Hammers are interested in the 21-year-old central defender after his impressive performances for England Under-21’s this summer, where he was captain as they won the European Championships in Georgia and Romania without conceding a single goal.
Man City want £15m to let their academy graduate leave but as he enters the final 12 months of his deal at the Etihad Stadium, they’re hoping to spark a bidding war between interested parties to drive that price up as high as possible.
“West Ham and Fulham are interested in England Under-21 captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who is valued by Manchester City at around £15million,” they wrote.
“There is unlikely to be a prominent role for Harwood-Bellis at the Etihad under Pep Guardiola next season and City hope to spark a bidding war for him.
“Burnley are also interested in signing the centre-back on a permanent basis.”
Excellent
West Ham have always been a great home for talented English youngsters, and Harwood-Bellis would be a perfect signing for us right now.
Obviously we are on the verge of losing Declan Rice, which means not only are we losing a homegrown talent but we’re losing a leader in the dressing room and on the pitch too.
But on top of that, the club are short on defenders after letting Craig Dawson leave in January without replacing him. That leaves us with just Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd and Angelo Ogbonna as senior central defender options.
Bringing in Harwood-Bellis would allow the club to have extra strength and depth in the position, but also have a ready-made replacement going forward for when Zouma inevitably gets injured again.
Ogbonna is getting old, Zouma and Aguerd have had injury issues and Harwood-Bellis is Premier League ready. £15m is a fantastic price, and David Moyes should be looking at the deal very closely.
In other West Ham news, a Euro goalkeeper has emerged as a target for the Hammers.