West Ham United could make a move for Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis in the summer as Graham Potter looks for defensive reinforcements. 

The Hammers have had a poor season all-round, but the defence is where we’ve struggled the most and at least one new defender is needed in the transfer window.

In the first half of the season under Julen Lopetegui, we suffered some humiliating defeats; conceding five to Liverpool twice, once to Arsenal, four goals to City and Spurs as well as three against City, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and even Leicester.

However, the defence has already improved dramatically under Graham Potter dropping from 1.89 goals conceded per game under Lopetegui to 1.43 under the Englishman.

Last weekends win over Arsenal showed just how disciplined and organised the current personnel can be under a manager that is competent defensively. Both full-backs provided excellent cover for a back three that all performed brilliantly to shut out Arsenal.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Max Kilman and either Emerson or Oliver Scarles are all pretty much guaranteed to be starters at the start of next season. We all hope Jean-Clair Todibo will be here next season, however, he keeps being linked with a move to Juventus and Manchester United, so it remains unclear. But if he is here and fit Todibo will be a starter for Graham Potter next season.

This means there will likely be an opening for the starting centre-back position next season if Potter sticks with the back three which looks likely. Aaron Cresswell has performed admirably in the role this season, but the 35-year-old can’t be relied on at the beginning of a new season. It also seems like Mavropanos could be on his way out as Graham Potter really doesn’t seem to fancy the Greece International.

This means a move for Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis would make complete sense. Despite a difficult season for the Saints where Bellis has the most errors leading to goals out of all outfield players in the Premier League with five, he is still a very talented player.

In fact, errors leading to goals are a theme for Southampton this season with their naive attacking style of football often catching them out. The Saints’ Jan Bednarek and former Hammer Flynn Downes are joint second in the list with three mistakes leading to goals, with Joe Aribo just behind with two.

The twenty-three year old has played in every Premier League game he has been available for this season, only missing two matches with a foot injury and one match due to suspension, this is the type of availability West Ham need after a year where Jean-Clair Todibo has struggled at times with fitness and injury.

THB is a player that would fit into a back three very nicely, his main strengths are his passing and bringing the ball out of defence which is very important in a Potter back three. He would likely slot straight into the middle of Todibo and Kilman which would make a really impressive defensive trio.

However, another option for the Hammers would be to give Nayef Aguerd another chance in East London. The Moroccan defender has been immense at the heart of Real Sociedad’s defence this season, with some even hailing him as the best defender in La Liga so far this term. This would allow Kilman to stay in the middle of the back three, where he has impressed as of late, as Aguerd would go on the left.

Whatever happens with Aguerd, the Hammers need to sign another central defender this summer and Harwood-Bellis could be an excellent option. The defender could be available for around £15-20m if the Saints are relegated from the Premier League, which looks like a certainty at the moment. They currently have just nine points and are 13 points off of safety with just eleven matches left to play.