Man City can thank Burnley and Southampton for potential cash windfall: View | OneFootball

Manchester City will have Burnley and Southampton to thank if they receive a windfall this summer for young defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

The 22-year-old has been on loan at Championship side Southampton this season, playing an instrumental role in ensuring they earn a play-off place and could become more important still in those knockout games.

In the previous campaign, he had another temporary spell in the second tier with Burnley, who he helped to the Championship title in 2022/23, earning the club a place back in the Premier League.

His contributions to both sides have given him significant value in the transfer market, and his development at both sides is likely to lead to a strong financial benefit for City.

Harwood-Bellis found success from Turf Moor to St Mary's

Despite his relatively young age for a defender, Harwood-Bellis settled in fantastically to both clubs and far from making up the numbers on the bench, as some young loanees end up doing, he was catapulted into starting regular fixtures for the duo.

He had been through shorter loan spells with Blackburn Rovers, RSC Anderlecht and Stoke City, but it was Burnley that saw him really kick on for a full season.

Having been impressed by him as manager of Anderlecht, former City captain Vincent Kompany decided to bring him back in for his new assignment at Turf Moor, and it proved an inspired decision.

Harwood-Bellis started 31 Championship games for Burnley in the 2022/23 season, appearing in one other game from the bench and would likely have been seen more were it not for a foot injury.

Now proven at that level, Southampton had seen enough to take him on loan for this campaign and instate him as a key figure in their defensive unit, starting 39 league games and barely missing a minute of action.

City will likely profit in one way or another

A clause in his current loan deal with the Saints will see the defender move to St Mary's Stadium on a permanent basis for a £20million fee this summer, but only if the club achieves promotion to the top flight.

Whether the club gains promotion or not is likely to be a key factor in whether the deal happens, as Harwood-Bellis has already made clear that Premier League football is his primary focus.

Regardless of Southampton's position, potential suitors for the young player are unlikely to be in short supply, and the clause provides a clear indication of how much Pep Guardiola's side value their academy product.

Wherever the destination, City are sure to be set for a significant windfall.

It will be a welcome windfall for City

City are widely touted as one of the richest clubs in world football, so £20million may seem little more than petty cash at the Etihad, but under Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) the sale of a player such as Harwood-Bellis is significant.

Under the accounting rules used to govern PSR, the money generated from the sale of a player from a club's academy ranks goes down as 'pure profit' because no initial fee was paid for the player.

This in turn provides more leeway as it increases the amount a club can spend without breaching the allowed losses limit.

A similar scenario was seen last season when City sold academy goalkeeper James Trafford to Burnley, in what appears to be a deliberate strategy of generating revenue through academy sales.

Harwood-Bellis is the latest in this production line at the Etihad and, should he be sold this summer for a significant fee, as appears likely, City will have both Southampton and Burnley to thank, potentially for the purchase in the Saints' case but predominately for putting him in the shop window in the first place and allowing him to flourish.