West Ham United still cannot be sure which division they will be playing in next season but it seems as if the Hammers are already planning some of their transfer business.

The latest player to be linked with a move to David Moyes' side is Manchester City defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis, with the centre-back impressing on loan with Burnley in the Championship this term.

Could West Ham sign Taylor Harwood-Bellis?

According to 90min, West Ham are among a number of clubs showing an interest in the 21-year-old, whose contract at the Etihad, where he earns £7.5k-per-week, is set to expire next summer.

While the report claims that City rate the Englishman highly and want to extend his contract further, the academy graduate recognises that he is way down the pecking order in Pep Guardiola's thinking, with world-class centre-backs such as Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte and John Stones all ahead of him.

Burnley would understandably like to sign the defender permanently in the summer after his starring role in their likely title-winning Championship campaign but will face competition from the Hammers, as well as Newcastle United, Fulham and Brentford.

Should West Ham sign Harwood-Bellis?

This season has seen the youngster make 27 appearances in the second tier for Vincent Kompany's side, contributing one goal and two assists, with a superb 7.15 rating from WhoScored for his performances.

Not only is this a better average rating than anyone in West Ham's squad, with Declan Rice the highest rated at the London Stadium with a 6.98 rating from WhoScored, but his return of 1.9 interceptions per game is also unmatched by anyone at the east London club.

Harwood-Bellis has now accumulated 100 senior appearances in his career with City, Stoke, Anderlecht, Burnley and Blackburn Rovers, where he would earn the praise of former manager Tony Mowbray during his loan spell in the 2020/21 campaign.

He said: “Taylor has a defensive instinct, a warrior attitude and he’s someone who wants to win headers and tackles. He wants to engage, he’s composed on the ball and has a lot of really good attributes."

Moyes has worked to improve West Ham's central defensive options in his time at the club and brought Nayef Aguerd to the club last summer, with the Morocco international starting to prove his worth at the London Stadium after a goal and clean sheet in the vital win against Southampton last Sunday.

While his current partner, Kurt Zouma, has been a reliable servant in his time at West Ham, the Frenchman is also far too injury prone and is currently enduring one the worst seasons of his career, averaging a disappointing 6.67 rating from WhoScored for his performances.

Now 28, the former Chelsea man cannot be considered a long-term option next to Aguerd due to his injury issues, and Moyes might be better served by bringing in a talented youngster such as Harwood-Bellis instead.