Vincent Kompany believes Manchester City loanee Taylor Harwood-Bellis has all the attributes to reach the top, predicting that he will only keep improving after his year at Burnley.
Harwood-Bellis is linked with a number of Premier League clubs after catching the eye at Championship leaders Burnley, following impressive loans at Blackburn and Stoke. He spent time at Anderlecht last season under Kompany between those two spells, with the City legend showing faith in Harwood-Bellis after seeing him come through the ranks at the Etihad.
Assessing Harwood-Bellis' season, Kompany praised the defender's attitude and backed him to become an even better player in the next two years.
“I think Taylor has done exactly what I’ve expected him to do," Kompany told Lancs Live. "I’ve known Taylor since he was a very young footballer before he was even a first-team player, and his one outstanding attribute is his attitude.
"He really has an outstanding attitude and he’s got good habits of high-level professionals. His level is for everyone to see. I had him when he was at Anderlecht, and he’s a better player now.
"The player he is now today, give him another year or two, he’s going to be a much-improved player again because he has the right attitude. We’re excited to be a part of his development.”
Harwood-Bellis and Burnley are on the cusp of an immediate return to the Premier League as they hold a 17-point lead over third place in the Championship with eight games remaining. As third-placed Middlesbrough have played a game more, Burnley could seal promotion on Friday as they face Boro at the Riverside, but they need Luton in fourth not to beat fifth-placed Millwall earlier in the day.
Harwood-Bellis, though, is keeping his feet on the ground after returning from injury.
"We all say it, the manager says it, we literally take it each game at a time," he said.
"It's a massive one against Middlesbrough, we know how well they're doing, but we've prepared as we normally do, we've put the graft in in training and then we'll be ready for Friday. The fans will be there to support us and hopefully we can give them a good day out."
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