This article is part of Football League World's 'The Verdict' series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Burnley will have been disappointed to have suffered relegation down to the Championship last season.

However, with a lot of change at the club which has seen Vincent Kompany come in as the new manager, it seems like there could be exciting times ahead.

Kompany will be ready to rebuild the team so it reflects him and this is clear through one of his targets Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who spent last season on loan with him at Anderlecht.

After 16 appearances, the 20-year-old returned to England and joined Stoke City on loan for the remainder of the series where he made 22 appearances.

He also made his Manchester City debut last season in an EFL Cup match so it may come as no surprise that the manager is interested in a loan deal with his former club again.

Football Insider have reported that the club are closing in on a deal for the youngster so with that in mind, we asked three writers here at FLW for their thoughts on the potential addition.

Ben Wignall

This could a very good addition for Burnley in what is a problem position considering what has already happened this summer.

Both James Tarkowski and Ben Mee have already departed, leaving Vincent Kompany very depleted when it comes to his options at the back - especially when you consider Nathan Collins could also depart for the right price.

In Harwood-Bellis though, Burnley would have a young defender who is pacey, athletic, but for a 20-year-old can read the game extremely well.

He has Championship experience already with Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers and Kompany has already worked with him before at Anderlecht, so it's a move that makes total sense.

 

 

Declan Harte

Kompany’s connections at Man City are coming into play to some extent here, but the defender does look promising.

This would be a solid addition to the squad, even if it is only a temporary signing.

The 20-year old performed well for Stoke City last season and is ready to step up to a side challenging higher up the Championship.

Given the losses the squad has had this summer, this is also an area that the team needs to strengthen in, which Harwood-Bellis should provide.

The youngster also performed for Kompany in Belgium, so this should be a good fit into the style of football that the new manager wants to play.

Alfie Burns

This looks like it will be really good business.

Vincent Kompany obviously knows Harwood-Bellis from his time at Manchester City, whilst they also had a period together at Anderlecht.

Either side of that, the defender has proved himself to be very capable at Championship level, with both Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City.

Burnley are obviously desperate for centre-back recruits after losing Ben Mee and James Tarkowski, with Harwood-Bellis’ seemingly pending arrival looking like it’ll combat part of that double blow.

Whether or not I see a partnership of Harwood-Bellis and Nathan Collins in the Championship next season I’m not sure, given its lack of experience. Maybe we will see another addition here.

However, this does look like much-needed, solid business.