Back in 2022, I suggested on Twitter (now ‘X’) that Newcastle should sign Taylor Harwood-Bellis; a player who has all the tools to be our long-term replacement for Fabian Schar.
At the time, he was a few months into his loan move at Burnley and he had impressed me massively. Since then, he has gone on to secure a £25 million move to Southampton and has very recently got a call up to England’s senior squad, where he rounded off the scoring just moments after coming on with a debut goal against the Republic of Ireland.
Harwood-Bellis is a 22-year-old right centre back, who stands at 6ft 2′. Undoubtedly, Taylor is one of the best ball playing centre backs the country has to offer, he finds him self in the top 97, 97 and 90 percentile for passes attempted, pass completion %, and progressive passes last season.
It is absolutely no surprise that managers like Vincent Kompany – who coached him at Burnley – and Russell Martin like him so much, as he would improve most sides in possession in the Premier League. It is also his ability with both feet which is so impressive. Just like Guehi, he is so comfortable at breaking lines and playing progressive passes.
Now that’s enough of his in-possession qualities, what does Taylor offer without the ball? He is a front footed, aggressive centre back, which is exactly what we would be looking for from our right centre back. His front footedness alongside Botman’s sweeping ability would give us a perfect blend of qualities for a centre back pairing.
With Taylor, you don’t just get a flashy modern-day centre back who is amazing on the ball, but also the dirty work as well. He is a great box defender; he will put his body on the line and make last ditch tackles to save his team. I wouldn’t say he is fast, but he isn’t slow either. I also love his one-vs-one defending, where he has that Van Dijk esc calmness about him in tricky situations. He doesn’t rush his action and often forces his opponent on their weaker side.
His aerial ability needs some work. If you look at his FBREF page, you’d be concerned as his aerial numbers are worse than Schar’s, but I don’t think that tells the full story. From the eye test, I don’t think Taylor is too bad in the air – not outstanding, but I would say he is better than Schar. Especially in attacking scenarios, highlighted by his header on debut for England.
Overall, I still stand by my statement that Taylor Harwood-Bellis would be an excellent signing for Newcastle. I think he is better than Schar on the ball, he is faster and a little better in the air. But most importantly, he can play either centre back role, he is young, English and has a “very high ceiling” as Russel Martin said. He captained the U21’s to European Championship glory in the same side as Anthony Gordon and has got an England call up at 22 years of age.
He is no longer a risk like he was two years ago – he is an almost guaranteed success. Should Southampton go down, he’ll almost certainly be picked up by a top Premier League side and I sincerely hope it’s us.
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