Leeds United may make a late loan offer for Manchester City centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis, according to Alan Nixon.
The journalist wrote on his Patreon page on Wednesday [30 August] that City have been unable to find a club willing to match their £15million valuation for Harwood-Bellis.
As a result, the English and European champions are now looking to offload the England U21 international on a temporary basis, with Leeds among a number of Championship sides interested.
Nixon posted: “Now the door is open for Southampton, Leicester City and possibly Leeds to make their play in the last days of the window.”
A big coup
Harwood-Bellis impressed on loan for a dominant Burnley side in the Championship last season, but the Clarets were not willing to pay £15m to sign the defender upon earning promotion to the Premier League.
The 21-year-old pushed on from that success at club level by captaining England to Euro U21 glory during the summer.
There is no doubting the City academy product’s talent, then, yet the Citizens do not appear to want to give him a chance at the Etihad Stadium.
Instead, they are loaning him out no doubt in the hope that he can once again put himself in the shop window ahead of moving on permanently next summer.
Southampton, Leicester and Leeds have each been busy in the closing stages of the window strengthening their squads, and now all three sides appear ready to do battle for Harwood-Bellis.
For Leeds in particular, signing the youngster could seriously bolster Daniel Farke’s backline.
A centre-back may not have been the priority at this late stage in the window, but it would be a big coup of sorts if Leeds can beat their second-tier rivals to Harwood-Bellis’ signature.
