Taylor Harwodd-Bellis says he wants to play in the Premier League next season, whether that is at parent club Manchester City or current loan outfit Burnley.
The 21-year-old has excelled with the Clarets under Vincent Kompany during his stay at Turf Moor, becoming a permanent fixture in his manager’s defence until a foot injury in January halted his momentum.
Harwood-Bellis returned to action at the end of March and helped to keep clean sheets in both Championship outings against Sunderland and Sheffield United, although he missed the 2-1 win at Middlesbrough which clinched the club’s promotion back to the Premier League.
READ MORE: Kompany sends message to Man City about Harwood-Bellis
The 13-cap England Under-21 star is targeting Premier League football next season and admitted he would be “buzzing” to do so at Burnley ahead of important summer talks with his parent club.
“It’s something I would be excited for [to stay at Burnley], but obviously it’s not up to me,” he said as per Lancs Live. “Burnley are going to have to want me back, I can’t just say I want to go back to Burnley and just turn up next season.
“Obviously there are going to have to be conversations with City, as they’re my parent club and the club that I’m at, and there’s going to have to be conversations with Burnley.
"They’ll be quite relaxed conversations to see where we’re at. For me, City and Burnley, it’s got to be right for all three and then we go from there.”
Harwood-Bellis added: “I’ve said before, if someone said to me you’ll play for Burnley in the Premier League next season, that would excite me.
“It’ll be relaxed [conversations], it’ll be City telling me their plan. I’ll have my plan and it’ll just be a case of making them align and if they align, then great. If not, then there will be little tweaks here and there but it’ll be relaxed.
"I've thoroughly enjoyed my time at Burnley. I signed for the season so I'm a Burnley player right until the end of the season. If it carried on for another season it'd be something I'd be buzzing about.
"Football doesn't always go your way so we'll have to see what happens and see how the conversations go in the summer."
Harwood-Bellis says he feels ready for the challenge of facing Premier League strikers despite his tender age. The centre-half acknowledged how difficult a task that would be at City given the plethora of quality in the pecking order but insisted he ‘knows his level’.
He added: “You want to take steps forward and I feel like for me, the step forward will be to play in the Premier League and test myself against the best. I’ve played a lot of games in the Championship now, but I’m not saying I’m too good for the Championship because I’ve still got a lot to improve on.
“I’m still young, I’m still learning my trade, but the only way to get better is to test it against the best and that’s what I want to do. I feel like I'm ready to be tested in the Premier League.
"It's the best of the best and I'm ready to be tested by it. [City] is not an easy team to break into, you’ve seen the other night against Bayern Munich, they’re the best of the best.
“They’re elite so it’s tough to break into there, but I know my level and I know how to get there and if that’s taking different paths to get back to the top then so be it.
“But there’s no rush, I’m not expecting to be breaking in when I’m 21. There’s only a few players that do that, and my path has led me here [Burnley] and I’m buzzing that it has.”
READ NEXT:
