Southampton have gained promotion back to the Premier League – and Manchester City are now set to pocket around £20 million as a result.
The Saints are back in the big-time, after Adam Armstrong’s goal was the difference between them and Leeds United in the 2024 play-off final.
Southampton finished fourth in the Championship table, taking 87 points from their 46 games.
They finished nine points behind Ipswich Town in second and there was disappointment about their end-of-season form that saw them miss out on automatic promotion.
But Southampton came through the play-offs on Sunday, bouncing back to the top-flight at the first time of asking.
Russell Martin’s team edge a tight contest at Wembley, and Southampton’s win is very much City’s financial gain…
Manchester City to pocket around £20m thanks to Taylor Harwood-Bellis clause
Taylor Harwood-Bellis has been on loan at Southampton since the start of the 2023/24 season and on Sunday at Wembley, he made his 46th appearance of the season.
The 22-year-old has been an important member of the starting XI, and it has been another solid campaign in the Championship from him, after he previously played for Burnley and Stoke City.
It was a pretty good performance from Harwood-Bellis in the play-off final against Leeds.
As per Sofascore, the youngster won 5/7 duels, completed 61/68 (90%) passes, with four of those being ‘key’, which is impressive going from a central defender.
His 11 defensive actions were the most of any player on the pitch, and he made one vital goal-saving block in the second-half.
Southampton winning is good news for Manchester City, who are now set to benefit financially because of smart clause they included on Harwood-Bellis when they facilitated his loan move to St. Mary’s Stadium.
According to MEN journalist Simon Bajkowski last September, City agreed on a £20 million obligation clause if Southampton achieved promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.
Savvy from City
Credit must go to whoever was involved in the deal that took Harwood-Bellis to Southampton last year.
Harwood-Bellis – who Vincent Kompany hailed previously as having ‘an outstanding attitude’ – has now helped two clubs to achieve promotion to the Premier League, and it will be good for him to finally get a chance in the top-flight next season.
Harwood-Bellis is very experienced at Championship level now, having made over 100 appearances in the division across various clubs.
Had Southampton not achieved promotion, then it’s likely he would not have been short of suitors from the top-flight, and City would probably have made a similar permanent sale. It was recently claimed that Ipswich Town were ready to swoop in case Southampton failed to get promoted.
But now he gets to complete a £20 million move to Southampton as per that obligation clause, and hopefully, he will thrive in 2024/25 just as he has this term.