Southampton’s victory over Leeds in the Championship play-offs had a significant impact on the future of a Manchester City player. Manchester City defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who spent the season on loan at St. James Park, is set to make a permanent move to Southampton.
His loan agreement required the Saints to buy him from Manchester City for £20 million if they won promotion from the Championship to the Premier League. I’m sure you’re wondering where this story is going. Well, let me tell you. Manchester City went ahead and sold an academy defender to Southampton for a cool £20 million. And let’s be honest, you probably hadn’t even heard of the player before. That said, that fee is pure profit since he came from their youth academy, which gives a nice boost to their summer transfer kitty.
I wonder if that’s simply the price of dominating the English football scene, or if it’s just exceptional loan management?
Well, that’s something for the Arsenal decision-makers to think about. It’s quite ironic that Arsenal had a highly rated academy player, Reuell Walters, sitting on the bench for the past 1 or even 2 seasons. Instead of giving him a chance to make his debut or loaning him out, they ended up letting him leave for free simply because they couldn’t convince him that there was a future for him at Arsenal.
As highly rated as he is, it looks like Reuell Walters might just explode out there, similar to how our academy prodigy Omari Hutchinson, who left for Chelsea, dazzled with Ipswich in the Championship last season, and they are considering another loan for him with a 25million sale condition at the end.
People are hailing Ethan Nwaneri as the next big talent from the Arsenal academy. If he doesn’t have a significant role to play next season, it would be fair to give him and other academy stars who are ready for the first team a chance to go out on loan so they can prove themselves at a higher level. If they shine but still not good enough for Arsenal, at least they are in the shop window?
Jack A
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