Southampton’s play-off final win lands surprise Premier League club huge sum of cash ahead of transfer window

Manchester City are due a £20 million payment following the conclusion of the Championship play-off final.

Southampton beat Leeds United at Wembley on Sunday, with Adam Armstrong scoring the only goal of the game to ensure an instant return to the Premier League.

The Saints finished fourth in the Championship with 87 points and beat West Brom over two legs in the play-off semi-finals.

They then did the business at Wembley, with Armstrong evading Leeds' offside trap for the winning goal in the first half.

And the result is good news for City, who lost the FA Cup final to rivals United on the same ground a day earlier.

The Premier League champions are entitled to a £20 million fee because on-loan centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis has achieved promotion from the Championship for the second consecutive season.

Image: Getty

The defender was on loan at Burnley under Vincent Kompany in 2022/23 and has spent this campaign at Southampton, playing 46 times.

But a clause in the deal stipulated that Saints were obligated to purchase Harwood-Bellis for a set fee if they went back up at the first time of asking.

The 22-year-old will now become the latest permanent Southampton player to have played for City.

The South Coast club have also snapped up the likes of Gavin Bazunu, Sam Edozie and Shea Charles in recent times.

Harwood-Bellis, who captained England Under 21's to glory in the summer, came through the ranks at City and went on to play eight times for the first-team.

He's also spent time on loan at Blackburn and Stoke City in the second tier.