How much money West Ham were prepared to pay Southampton for Taylor Harwood-Bellis revealed | OneFootball

Southampton turned down an offer potentially worth £20m from West Ham for defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

West Ham made an offer worth a potential £20m to Southampton for defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis in the summer transfer window.

The 23-year-old joined the Saints in 2023 on an initial loan, before making the move permanent following their promotion to the Premier League.

Last season was a struggle for all connected to the club, as Southampton went down with a whimper, so there were doubts about Harwood-Bellis’ future going into the current campaign.

West Ham fail with offer worth up to £20m for Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis

Whilst the centre-back has remained part of Will Still’s squad, it appears Southampton had a battle to keep hold of Harwood-Bellis, as details have emerged of West Ham making a late play to sign the England international.

That’s after journalist Alan Nixon revealed that the Hammers offered £2.5m to sign Harwood-Bellis on loan, with the option of making the transfer a permanent one for an extra £17.5m.

However, that offer was dismissed by Saints, who clearly want to keep the ex-Man City man, with Harwood-Bellis under contract at St. Mary’s Stadium until the summer of 2028.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis will play a big role in Southampton’s promotion push this season

You can understand why Southampton rejected that offer from West Ham, as there was no guarantee of a permanent deal, so it made little sense to accept such a low guaranteed fee.

If the Londoners had made an offer with an obligation to buy, it may have been different, as that would be a significant sum, but with the departures of Tyler Dibling and Mateus Fernandes, Saints weren’t under pressure to sell, particularly so late in the window.

The prospect of returning to the top-flight would’ve appealed to Harwood-Bellis, but he would have understood why the club weren’t going to accept such an offer.

Now, with the window shut, Harwood-Bellis will be concentrating on helping Southampton, and he is sure to have a key role to play under Still as they target an immediate return to the Premier League.

The defender has proven himself to be a quality operator at this level, and his leadership is sure to be very welcome by the new boss as he tries to get his ideas across to the team.

After a slow start to life under the ex-Lens chief, Southampton will hope to kick-on over the next few months, and Harwood-Bellis is going to have a big role to play.