Borussia Dortmund have agreed a fee of up to €38million (£32m; $43.3m) with Sunderland for Jobe Bellingham.
The German club will pay between €30m-€33m for the 19-year-old, with the additional fee coming from potential add-ons. Sunderland expect those add-ons to be triggered, which would represent a new club-record transfer for Dortmund, surpassing the widely reported figure of €35m they paid Rennes to sign Ousmane Dembele in 2016. Dortmund view the bonuses as less easy to achieve.
The fee will also break Sunderland’s record for an outgoing transfer, set by Jordan Pickford’s sale to Everton in 2017, with the newly-promoted club also retaining a 15 per cent sell-on clause as part of the deal.
The Athletic reported earlier this week that Dortmund were confident of finalising a deal for Bellingham, who had also attracted interest from fellow Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt.
Dortmund head coach Niko Kovac, sporting director Sebastian Kehl and CEO for sport Lars Ricken all visited Bellingham in England at the end of April. CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke also travelled to the north east on a separate visit. Kehl also then flew to Ibiza, where the Bellingham family was on holiday, to further advance the deal.
Bellingham joined Sunderland from Birmingham City in the summer of 2023 and has played 90 times for them. Premier League sides Crystal Palace and Brentford were interested in signing the midfielder last summer but he instead signed a new contract at Sunderland, extending his terms until 2028.
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Bellingham was a regular starter for Sunderland in 2024-25 as they won promotion back to the Premier League via the play-offs.
The Englishman joins his brother, Jude, in securing a move to Dortmund following a breakout year in the Championship. Jude, now aged 21, joined Dortmund from Birmingham City, where the siblings came through the academy, in 2020.
Bellingham has been included in Lee Carsley’s England Under-21 squad for the European Championship in Slovakia. England’s first game is on Thursday but the tournament clashes with the Club World Cup in the United States, which Dortmund are a part of. Bellingham can be registered for Dortmund’s squad in the extra transfer window FIFA offered to nations which runs from June 1-10, if they choose to.
Bellingham’s move away is the second major exit of the summer for Sunderland, after winger Tom Watson joined Brighton & Hove Albion in a £10m transfer.
Additional reporting: Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
(George Wood/Getty Images)
