West Ham are speeding up their pursuit of Taylor Harwood-Bellis but Southampton shouldn't rush to sell him.
Exactly one week is left before Southampton open their sales window, ideally the first ten days of June. And with a simple goal in mind, to extract the maximum transfer revenues they can to later splash on their ailing first team squad.
So, it's basically meant to be a toss up between Tyler Dibling, Aaron Ramsdale and Mateus Fernandes about who can be transferred quickly. After them, the baton can be passed onto others and it makes true sense as well.
Despite that, it could actually be an injured Southampton star taking centre stage in the early exit negotiations.
We are talking about Taylor Harwood-Bellis who is no stranger to how much West Ham rate him, among the usual Premier League suspects who keep tabs on him. Currently, that transfer desire from the Hammers has reached the initial inquiry stages according to TeamTalk.
Southampton should consider retaining Taylor Harwood-Bellis
So far, so good for Southampton on the transfers front. But will the Saints be better off leaving their defence in crisis with Bednarek also an exit favourite or play hardball with West Ham.
I know it's a contrasting take, but Southampton can afford to show resistance on at least one of their prized quartet, Harwood-Bellis and the above trio. And that risk must be taken with the centre-back as there aren't many young defenders of his quality so, the Saints can inflate his asking price as the window progresses.
Even in the worst case, Southampton can simply handover the captain's armband to Harwood-Bellis and a successful promotion run will then significantly boost his valuation.
Plus, with Will Still set to enter the Southampton dugout soon, the long-term Premier League survival chances are sure to improve for the better. Then, there will emerge another favourable option to retain Harwood-Bellis and build the Saints core around him to then push for some silverware.
Newcastle United and Crystal Palace have shown that winning English titles isn't a far-fetched dream anymore and it's time Southampton also thought in that direction. Let's hope the eventual decision-makers also consider these on-field ambitions that come with keeping hold of the 23-year-old and then act accordingly.
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