I was denied my dream transfer away from Man City but now I’m in even a better condition
Taylor Harwood-Bellis will return to Manchester City for the first time as an opposition player – but perhaps not with the team he once expected.
Harwood-Bellis has played six times for the first team at City
Pep Guardiola has high hopes for Taylor Harwood-Bellis
Very few Manchester City players can claim a more successful spell away from the club as Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
A graduate of the ‘Class of 2020’ in the City academy, which saw Enzo Maresca’s side dominate the Premier League 2 and then go on to win a delayed FA Youth Cup title, Harwood-Bellis was clearly ready for first team football ahead of the likes of Tommy Doyle, Cole Palmer and James McAtee.
He had been promoted to the first team for a debut in 2019, making two Carabao Cup appearances and a Champions League cameo in the 2019/20 season. More domestic cup appearances followed the next season, and two more in 2021 until a loan at Blackburn saw Harwood-Bellis really kick on.
“The academy is good for a short time but he needs to grow as a player and he doesn’t have many minutes here in the first team,” Guardiola explained. “He has had two seasons training with us, there are other young lads training in their first season. This is the best way to see him, in a good competition.”
A switch to Anderlecht under former teammate Vincent Kompany the next season appeared to be a match made in heaven, but that loan was halted midway through the season and a spell at Stoke followed. Kompany wasn’t deterred, though, snapping up Harwood-Bellis for another loan and giving him a key role in their successful promotion charge.
Guardiola had challenged Harwood-Bellis to not only select the right club for his development, but the right manager. So when Kompany called for the second time, the Stockport-born defender was in no doubts over what to do.
“He [Guardiola] told me the manager has to be right and the club has to be right for me as it’s a big part of my career,” Harwood-Bellis said after his Burnley move was confirmed. “It’s class working with him [Kompany] and when he called me again, I knew straight away. It was the same feeling as when he called me before I went to Anderlecht. It’s a big loan for me in my career and progression.”
With Burnley promoted, Harwood-Bellis went away with England under-21s and captained them to a historic European Championship triumph in Georgia. On his return, he expected – hoped – to be back with Kompany for a third spell, but City wanted a permanent sale while his stock was high, and Burnley had other priorities for their budget.
“I’m not going to lie: I wanted to go back to Burnley,” Harwood-Bellis told FourFourTwo. “But later in the window, I found out it wasn’t going to happen.”
City also realised they would have to wait for a permanent sale, so agreed a loan with Southampton that included a £20m obligation to buy if they were to get promotion. Harwood-Bellis would have to wait for his stab at the Premier League, having never made his top flight debut for City.
“I explored other options and I didn’t want to turn down Southampton, because of the size of the club,” the defender said. “It was a chance to get another promotion, and after speaking to the gaffer, it was a no-brainer. It couldn’t have gone more perfectly. This was what I set out to do: to get my Premier League move, at a club I love playing for.”
After securing his permanent move, Harwood-Bellis is no longer thinking about Burnley – who passed Southampton in the other direction and have since lost Kompany – and is targeting a long-term future at St Mary’s.
“I’m happy to be settled in now and there’s nothing else on my mind apart from the first game and staying in the team,” Harwood-Bellis told the Southern Daily Echo in the summer.
“There is literally nothing else to worry about. No contracts, no this or that, no thoughts of where am I playing? Nothing. I’m just happy here. I’m expecting a tough ride but I think it’s just a case of me showing that I’m ready for it. I know it’s going to be hard. I’ve just got to work hard and keep myself in the team. That’s the priority and staying in the league next season, that’s literally it.”
While still at City, he could often be seen in away ends when he wasn’t in the squad, and he has attended City games when Burnley or Southampton haven’t been playing in recent seasons. His last trip to the Etihad saw him on commentary duties for Burnley when he was ineligible to play.
On Saturday, he will have the chance to prove he was right to go out on loan and City can boast of another Premier League academy graduate.
Reflecting on his time with Guardiola, he told FourFourTwo: “I only had a short time but I learned the calmness to play, and tactical knowledge. There are other ways to beat teams – not just kicking it as far as you can, but having the courage to play football.”
Harwood-Bellis is a prime example of there being other ways to make it to the Premier League as well.
Leave a Reply