EXCLUSIVE: Jobe Bellingham agrees long-term deal to join Sunderland

It appears Sunderland are just one step away from getting Jobe Bellingham in a cut-price deal from Birmingham.

Author:
Michael Graham
Publish date:
May 31, 2023 3:15 PM EDT

Sunderland are one major step closer to completing the signing of Jobe Bellingham with the midfielder agreeing a four-year deal with the Wearside club.

The 17-year-old has been widely tipped to join Sunderland since attending the club’s play-offs semi-final home leg against Luton Town, and talks have accelerated after he arrived back in the UK after a trip to Germany to watch brother Jude Bellingham in Bundesliga action for Borussia Dortmund.

Those talks have resulted in an agreement on a four-year deal that will tie him to Sunderland until the summer of 2027 and, barring any last-minute hitches, the deal should be completed within the next seven days.

Meanwhile, no exact details about the transfer fee have emerged, although Sunderland Nation can reveal it is significantly less than the £3million reported in the press.

Bellingham has just one-year left on the deal he signed with Birmingham last season and sees his future elsewhere, meaning Sunderland have been able to hold the cards in negotiations.

Those cards also include sporting director Kristjaan Speakman and first team coach Mike Dodds, both of whom have a close trusted relationship with the Bellingham family having played a key role in Jude’s development.

While no one is expected Jobe to reach the heights of his brother, he is extremely highly rated and played 22 times for Birmingham in the Championship last season.

“He’s put on 10 kilos this year, he’s going to be an absolute monster just like his brother is,” Birmingham forward Troy Deeney said of Jobe Bellingham earlier this year.

“[Jobe] is going to be unbelievably talented, you can’t deny that, but it is just going to take him a year or two longer than his brother.”

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