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Boss makes huge prediction as Stoke City old boy triggers £20m Premier League transfer.
News from the bet365 Stadium as former Stoke City loan defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis helps Southampton beat Leeds United to win the Championship play-off final.
Former Stoke City defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis has triggered a £20 million permanent move to Southampton by helping the club win promotion to the Premier League
Adam Armstrong’s first-half goal helped Southampton to a 1-0 win over Leeds United in the Championship play-off final at Wembley on Sunday. That sent them back to the top flight at the first time of asking and secured Harwood-Bellis, who had been on loan from Manchester City, a second successive promotion. He had spent the previous season at Burnley, who he helped win the title.
The deal which took him to Southampton on deadline day last summer included a clause to make it an obligation to buy for a set fee in this scenario. The 22-year-old has made 46 appearances through the season and played a key role.
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He said: “I can’t put it into words, it’s different because I know I’m a Southampton player now. I wanted to stay here and to know that we’ll be in the Premier League and there’s not even a discussion to happen now [with Man City] and to just turn up for pre-season, I can’t describe that feeling.
“It’s surreal (to win promotion twice in a row), both in completely different ways, I couldn’t have asked for much better. Last year was so special, with a special football club that I loved to bits. This year is exactly the same, with a little more edge because I know I’m here to stay.”
Harwood-Bellis got his first taste of Championship football in the second half of the 2021/22 season with Stoke. It was a vital learning curve and he wanted to return in pre-season – and was wanted back by then boss Michael O’Neill – but it was a summer window when Stoke were particularly stretched by Financial Fair Play constraints, heading towards the end of a particularly gruelling three-year cycle. Burnley and Man City legend Vincent Kompany came calling instead.
Southampton manager Russell Martin expects Harwood-Bellis, who has 23 caps for England under-21s, to go on to play for his country “many, many times”.
