West Ham to capitalise on ‘Spygate’ as Southampton star Taylor Harwood-Bellis wanted
West Ham United could take advantage of Southampton’s recent punishments from the “Spygate” scandal as interest in Taylor Harwood-Bellis appears to have been rekindled.
Nuno Espirito Santo is keen to get the Hammers back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, and to do so, he needs to have a team assembled ready to fight for promotion.
David Sullivan needs to raise a reported £150million in player sales, but that won’t stop the Irons from making signings of their own.
According to talkSPORT on Tuesday, West Ham remain admirers of Harwood-Bellis, who is expected to be in demand this summer following what’s gone on at Southampton recently.
The Hammers could face competition for the Englishman, with Hull City and Coventry City both interested in the centre-half.
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Taylor Harwood-Bellis is ready to lead West Ham promotion charge
West Ham were credited with interest in Harwood-Bellis last winter, but their admiration for the 24-year-old goes back even further than that.
Harwood-Bellis played a crucial role in leading the Saints into the Championship Play-off final, where they were expelled from the competition for spying on Middlesbrough before their first leg.
| Area of game | Stats |
| Matches | 41 |
| Goals | 7 |
| Pass accuracy | 85.7% |
| Duels won | 60.8% |
Had the Saints not been rightfully kicked out, there’s a good chance that Harwood-Bellis would have stayed at Saint Mary’s, but that doesn’t look likely now.
Southampton may have to sell multiple players this summer, with their reputation now affected by the scandal, and West Ham would do well to find better than their star centre-back.
Harwood-Bellis was called up to the England squad in 2024 and played one time in the UEFA Nations League, scoring, too.
He has all the potential to lead the Hammers back into the Premier League, and, once again, get back into contention for the England squad in the future.
West Ham could sign most hated Championship player in Harwood-Bellis
West Ham could sign the most hated Championship player in Harwood-Bellis.
That’s because the former Burnley man made himself the centre of attention during Southampton’s highly watched semi-final second leg win over Boro.
He was alleged to have mocked Luke Ayling’s speech impediment during the game, which caused major controversy.
Luke Ayling alleges that Taylor Harwood-Bellis used words of a discriminatory nature.
— Second Tier podcast (@secondtierpod) May 12, 2026
Referee Andy Madley is reporting the incident. pic.twitter.com/aaf0r2oG8O
He then was seen celebrating with a binoculars gesture in the face of Aiden Morris after Boro conceded a 116th-minute goal, which Southampton thought had got them to Wembley.
More fans of other Championship clubs have since come out to berate Harwood-Bellis for other incidents in the season, so if West Ham do sign him and notice some stick, here are your reasons why.