PORTUGUESE giants Porto have made a £20million bid for Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
The move could see the one-cap England defender swap the Championship for the chance to play in the Europa League.
Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis is being eyed by top-flight clubs[/caption]
Porto hope relegated Saints will sell their footballing centre-back, who cost £20m from Manchester City a year ago.
THB is on a four-year deal and has not pushed to leave — but Porto is an attractive move.
The classy 23-year-old, who had a loan spell at Anderlecht, is attracting interest around Europe and England, with Burnley also keen to sign him.
However, Porto have put the cash on the table.
West Ham also rate Harwood-Bellis highly but only have a limited budget.
And publicly THB has suggested he is committed to helping Southampton earn an instant return to the Premier League.
Harwood-Bellis, who is engaged to Roy Keane’s daughter Leah, is also determined to reignite his Three Lions career.
He told Sky Sports: “If I want to play for England, we’ve got to get promoted.
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“People around me know that, and I think the fans know that as well.
“We don’t want to be playing in the Championship, we want to be playing in the Premier League. We’ve got a taste of it now.
In-demand Saints defender Harwood-Bellis believes he’ll need to play top-flight football to reignite his England career[/caption]
“We’ve got the bit between our teeth to go and do a better job.
“It couldn’t have gone any worse in the Premier League last time. We’ve got to put that wrong, right.”
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