‘ Fire in the belly’ drives loan star Harwood-Bellis as He plays himself into Pep’s thinking with Garcia heading to Spain
CITY’S Taylor Harwood-Bellis has his eyes on nailing down a looming vacancy in the first team squad when he returns to the club in the summer.
And the 19-year-old has been doing himself a few favours by earning rave reviews for his performances against the best strikers in the Championship after joining Blackburn on loan.
Harwood-Bellis signed a new City contract aimed at keeping him at the club until 2024 after impressing manager Pep Guardiola in training and in his six first-team appearances.
But with Ruben Dias, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake and Eric Garcia providing fierce competition for a rookie defender, Harwood-Bellis headed to Ewood
Park in a bid to improve his game.
The teenager showed his football qualities and his physicality as a key figure in the Blues’ FA Youth Cup-winning side, but there is a big difference between under-18 football and the men’s game.
Harwood-Bellis is under no illusions that he needed the physical maturity which is such a big part of being a centre back, especially in the English game.
He has got that at Blackburn. The lifelong City fan had to bide his time, starting the first few games on the bench, and then having to fill in at right-back, but when Everton loanee Jarrad Branthwaite fell ill, Harwood-Bellis stepped in and has started the last eight games as centre-back.
After a brief bedding-in period, the 19-year-old has impressed hugely and is now being picked ahead of
Branthwaite. “What I see is a lad who needs some buttons pushing because when you challenge him he generally stands up to the challenge,” Rovers boss Tony Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph.
“You can feel the fire in his belly and the bigger the name that plays in front of him the higher he’s going to rise in his career. The big games are what are going to get his juices flowing and I like his character, he’s one I would call an old school central defender.”
The Stockport lad has been pitted against strikers with extensive Premier League experience in recent weeks and has thrived on it, with runaway leaders Norwich’s frontman Teemu Pukki being shut-out in a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road at the weekend, while Brentford ace Ivan Toney and
Swansea hitman Andre Ayew only managed penalties.
His football education is continuing, but he is also showing he can hold his own against strong, vastly experienced strikers like Nottingham
Forest’s
Glenn Murray, QPR’s Charlie Austin and Pukki from Norwich.
The player is not looking beyond the next match, in true Guardiola style, but the fact that Garcia is expected to leave City this summer to join hometown club Barcelona on a free transfer could open the door for a return, especially if he can enhance his CV in the Championship.
There are also strong rumours that top Bundesliga clubs have also been eyeing him up, as part of the growing trend of nicking top young English talent like Jadon Sancho, Jude Bellingham and Ademola Lookman.
If not, a loan spell, possibly to a Premier League club, is a distinct possibility.