- Nabeel
Taylor Harwood-Bellis set to join Stoke City on loan
Manchester City academy graduate Taylor Harwood-Bellis is set to join Stoke City on loan for the remainder of the season – bringing an end to his loan at Vincent Kompany's Anderlecht side in Belgium.
Initially reported by The Telegraph early this afternoon, reporter John Percy revealed that the Championship side expect to complete the loan signing of the central defender in the next 24 hours, with a medical scheduled for today.
Stuart Brennan of the Manchester Evening News reports that Harwood-Bellis has indeed been in Stoke to complete that medical, with the move to be completed either today or early tomorrow. It was reportedly agreed with City that the Anderlecht loan was not working out.
Brennan details that the move was initially a good one for the 19-year-old as he established himself as a first-choice option in Kompany's defence, but that an unfortunate delay in returning to Belgium following an England U-21 game in Georgia, as a consequence of a technical hitch involving the team plane, led to defender Lisandro Magallan being drafted into the Belgian First Division side.
The Manchester Evening News journalist highlights Harwood-Bellis' lack of game time since, with the player just featuring for 12 minutes after this – and, according to the report, given the impending return of Belgium international Hannes Delcroix to the side, there were fears his game time would be further limited.
The Premier League champions are said to be happy to see Harwood-Bellis join Stoke, a side pushing for a Championship play-off spot, as they sent him out on loan to gain valuable experience.
Written by: @NA1907_
Follow our Twitter account for reliable, live updates on all the latest news surrounding this story and everything Manchester City in real time.