Southampton fans will not be getting too excited about the news that the club is talking to Manchester City about another signing from the club's academy, but the good news is that this one has the experience that we sorely need.

the72.co.uk have revealed that Southampton are one of several club's chasing Manchester City's central defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

Saints are said to be competing with Leeds united & Leicester City with Manchester City being said to be willing to sell at the right price, that could be somewhere between £15 - 20 million according to transfermarkt for a player whose contract at the Etihad is up next summer.

Oh no not another youngster will be the cry from many Saints supporters, after all we have had a few over the past 12 months and the success has been varied so far, but Harwood-Bellis comes with a little more of a pedigree than any of his potential ex Manchester City team mates at St Mary's.

He is a little older for a start, he will turn 22 in January, secondly he has spent the last 2 1/2 years out on loan.

After a few appearances in the FA & League Cups plus a Champions League game, in January 2021 he went out on loan to Blackburn Rovers where he made 19 appearances in the Championship.

The first half of 2021/22 season was spent at Anderlecht where he played 16 games in the Jupilo Pro League before returning to Manchester City in January, although he was not there long, he was off to Stoke where he started all 22 games that he could have played in , missing just 20 minutes of game time, coming off injured in the final game of the season.

Last season saw him on loan to the Championship again, this time to Burnley for the entire 2022/23 season, at Turf Moor he played in virtually every game he was fit for, an ankle injury meaning he was out for 3 months at the turn of the year, he was back in the side though for the final half dozen games of the season.

So this is perhaps a signing that Saints fans could get excited about, a player with undoubted potential and ability, but one who has actually proved himself at the level we need him to play this season and with the potential to play in the Premier League should we get promotion.

Harwood- Ellis has already racked up first team appearances in all competitions including Belgium totalling 105.

Hopefully the fact that he will know Saints Director of Football Jason Wilcox well will give us the edge in signing this player.

Photo: Action Images

IanRC added 09:41 - Aug 16 About time
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PatfromPoole added 09:57 - Aug 16 Oh no, not another youngster…..
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davenbennett added 10:01 - Aug 16 Agree, normally would moan about another nipper. But, crucially he does have Championship experience. And of course in title winning team. Problem is. Can we afford him? It was made clear at the fan's forum last night, do NOT have £120m. PL clubs pay in dribs and drabs, partly to get around FFP rules. That's why some of the deals take so long. Not just about fee, but WHEN they will cough up. For eg. If we have to pay MC 20% of £58m _ £10m cost, that's £9.6m. But if Chelsea only pay 20% now, that's £11.6m. So, only £2m now! And have to pay tax on that! Of course, if paid say 30% that's an extra £5.8m. With Tino, Chelsea had I think 50% sell on clause, which we managed to negotiate down. But again, how much actual cash to spend NOW, did we actually get. It gets worse. SR lost £250m, so far. If borrowed at 10%, that's repayments of £25m. Just interest, and not repaying capital. That's why the Director was taking about 'cashflow'. And maybe why we aren't actually buying anybody. Just haven't got any cash NOW.

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SonicBoom added 10:29 - Aug 16 The price is amazing considering how little he's actually played.
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SaintNick added 10:53 - Aug 16 The way transfer dealings are done is the same throughout the Leagues, when we sign championship clubs sign players we do it in exactly the same way, we put money down and then in installments, so our lack of transfer activity is not strictly down to cash flow, it is about knowing what positions we need to strengthen in and getting in the right players
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SanMarco added 17:12 - Aug 16 We need another three letter player to replace JWP so we can keep our quota up. Two further ones needed for AMN and ABK (assuming he goes)...
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Peterx added 14:12 - Aug 17 Looks like great business to me if it happens.
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