Taylor Harwood-Bellis: “I have been training with the first team and that has progressed me as a player massively...”

Taylor Harwood-Bellis says he is enjoying the intensity of first team training and that it is taking his game to another level. Speaking to mancity.com the young player has spent a lot of time up with Pep Guardiola’s squad.

The 18 year-old centre-back admits he’s had to work harder than ever to keep pace with the bevy of fantastic players during first team training.

Let’s see what he had to say-

“The speed is hard to get used to at first,”

“When I first came up to the senior squad, I was two or three yards off the pace, which you can only expect.

“For the past few months, I have been training with the first team and that has progressed me as a player massively - more than anything I’ve done before.

“The matches you play in training are probably the hardest you’re going to get all season!

“The speed they play at is ridiculous as well as the things they can see and the passes they make, but that’s what I strive towards.

“That’s what I want to be doing in the next few years. I want the Academy players coming up to the first team to look at me and say, ‘he trains well every day and he trains at such speed every day’ and for them to know that it is possible for an Academy player to do that.”

“I’ve learnt a lot in the first team environment. Being a part of the first team, you learn so much about what you need to do to get the better of your opponents.

“You learn that every day, so coming into a game if you’re fit enough and you can do it for 90 minutes, that’s what makes the difference.”

Insightful comments for the young defender. Hopefully he is a part of Manchester City for a long time to come.