Southampton promotion sparks £20m deal with Premier League champions

Southampton’s success in the Championship play-off final will see Taylor Harwood-Bellis become a permanent member of the squad.

The Saints beat Leeds United 1-0 at Wembley on Sunday after Adam Armstrong scored the only goal of the game to see them straight back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.

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The promotion means Harwood-Bellis’ loan will now become permanent, in line with the terms of the original deal agreed with Manchester City in the summer.

The defender signed on loan for Southampton last year after helping Burnley to promotion the previous season.

And the south coast side also managed to include a clause which meant that if the Saints returned to the Premier League, this loan would become a permanent deal, which was confirmed at the final whistle of the Championship play-off final.

It is understood the deal is worth £20 million.

Harwood-Bellis has been an integral part of the Southampton team this season, playing at full-back alongside club prop Jack Stephens.

In total, he made 46 appearances for the Saints, scoring twice and helping them finish in fourth place in the Championship.

In the play-off final, Harwood-Bellis played alongside Jan Bednarak and Stephens in the final three.

This nullified Leeds’ potent attack as the star men of Daniel Farke, Joel Piroe, Georginio Rutter and Championship Player of the Year Crysencio Summerville, all looked direct.

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And Harwood-Bellis can now look forward to next season when he will be able to play Premier League football for the first time in his career.

Having attended City’s academy, he only managed eight appearances for the club in cup competitions.

He never played in the Premier League for the champions before being loaned out to Blackburn, Anderlecht, Stoke and Burnley.

Under Vincent Kompany last season, Harwood-Bellis helped the Clarets return to the Premier League by securing the league title.

But he was not signed permanently by the Belgian, who saw Burnley relegated this season but has since agreed a deal in principle to become the new boss of Bayern Munich.

This meant Harwood-Bellis faced another year in the Championship, leading Southampton to promotion this time.