Exclusive: Sunderland Jobe Bellingham plans revealed

Jobe Bellingham will be officially unveiled as a Sunderland player on Friday.
Sunderland Nation can also reveal the midfielder has already been earmarked for a starting spot in the Black Cats midfield.
Last month the Wearside club confirmed an agreement had been reached with Birmingham for Bellingham, although no official unveiling had taken place.
That was due to the 17-year-old joining older brother Jude Bellingham as he completed a blockbuster move to Real Madrid before the pair went away on a short holiday together.
However, Bellingham will be at Sunderland on Friday to be unveiled, with the usual scarf pictures and commitments with the club’s media.
There has been speculation that Bellingham has been signed as a player to be integrated slowly, but in fact current plans see him starting Sunderland’s season in a number 10 position, probably ahead of a midfield duo of Dan Neil and Pierre Ekwah.
After Sunderland confirmed the deal earlier this month, Bellingham said:
“I’m delighted to sign for Sunderland AFC and I can’t wait to get started. The opportunity for young players to move here and progress is clear, so I believe this is the perfect Club for me to continue my development.
"I’m grateful to everyone at Birmingham City for their support over the past 11 years and I wish them the best for the future, as I begin the next chapter of my career at the Stadium of Light.”
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Michael Graham is a professional sports writer with more than ten years of industry experience. After pursuing football writing by helping establish the Roker Report Sunderland AFC fansite, Michael moved to Planet Sport to cover football. Michael has since worked on many of the sports sites within the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk and Planet Football before leaving to join 90min. As well as football, Michael is an accomplished tennis writer and has been regularly featured on Tennishead, TennisBuzz and Tennis365. It is football that is his first love, though, with Sunderland AFC his particular passion. Contact: michael@buzzpublishing.co.uk
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