Southampton have signed several young talents from defending Premier League Champions Manchester City in the recent couple of years. While players such as Gavin Bazunu and Romeo Lavia established themselves as regular mainstays for the Saints, other promising stars such as Samuel Edozie and Juan Larios have struggled with consistency despite showcasing flashes of brilliance in their limited playing time. The Saints completed another transfer move from Pep Guardiola's side last year, bringing in young centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis on a loan move ahead of their Championship campaign.
Initially viewed as a third choice centre-back after Poland international Jan Bednarek and club captain Jack Stephens, Harwood-Bellis displayed composure and reliability in the first half of the previous season. His consistent performances led Martin to give more playing time to the 22-year-old, who formed a rock-solid centre-back partnership with experienced defender Jan Bednarek at the heart of the defence. Southampton's promotional playoff winning campaign was based on the foundation of impressive defensive solidity, which Russell Martin's side are again aiming to form this season.
Southampton star captains national side to important 2-1 win
While Southampton are yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League, Taylor Harwood-Bellis has been the defensive leader of the Saints following Jack Stephens unavailability due to his red card against Manchester United. Recently, the ball-playing central defender captained England's U21 side in the Euro Qualifiers against Ukraine U21. Needing an important win to keep their chances of qualifying for the U21 Euro tournament, Harwood-Bellis led U21 side completed a remarkable 2-1 comeback in the last-minute of the match.
While Harwood-Bellis successfully managed to organise a calm and composed England defence for the large part of the game, Ukraine U21 took the lead in the second half as Mykhavko scored a header from the set-piece. It seemed highly likely that the England U21 team will miss out on qualification with Ukraine advancing instead, however, James McAtee's two goals in the final five minutes of the game have increased the qualification chances for Ben Futcher's side. However, the youth team still needs to take a win against bottom-placed side Azerbaijan U21 and simultaneously need Ukraine U21 to drop points against Serbia U21.
This win over unbeaten side Ukraine U21 has lifted England U21's momentum, who would aim to secure another qualification for the Euro U21 tournament under the captaincy of Southampton star Taylor Harwood-Bellis.