Jobe Bellingham Transfers to Borussia Dortmund for £27.5 Million

Jobe Bellingham has officially transferred from Sunderland to Borussia Dortmund for an initial fee of approximately £27.5 million, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Jude Bellingham.

The 19-year-old midfielder is now the second-most expensive player in Borussia Dortmund’s history, only behind the £30 million deal for Ousmane Dembélé made in 2016. This fee also surpasses the £25 million Dortmund paid Birmingham City for Jude Bellingham when he was just 17 in 2020.

Jobe Bellingham’s transfer makes him the most expensive player ever sold by Sunderland, a club he joined from Birmingham in 2023 for £3 million. Birmingham City is set to receive a 15% sell-on fee from the transfer.

Sunderland included a similar sell-on clause for Jobe should he leave Signal Iduna Park in the future. The initial fee may increase by an additional £3.5 million in potential performance-related add-ons.

During his time at Sunderland, Bellingham made 90 appearances and played a crucial role in securing promotion for the club during the Championship play-off final against Sheffield United, winning with a dramatic goal in stoppage time.

He has demonstrated versatility on the field, with Sunderland’s head coach, Régis Le Bris, indicating that Bellingham’s most effective position might ultimately be as a defensive midfielder.

In his two-year stint with Sunderland, Bellingham scored 11 goals, and his move to Dortmund had been anticipated in the latter part of the season.

Despite interest from Bundesliga competitors Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig, Bellingham ultimately chose Dortmund. He was given a tour of Eintracht Frankfurt’s facilities before going on vacation in Ibiza with his brother.

Dortmund’s sporting director, Sebastian Kohl, traveled to Ibiza to discuss the transfer with Jobe, who reaffirmed his commitment to signing with Dortmund, a club that finished the season strong enough to earn a place in the Champions League.

It remains unclear if Dortmund will include Bellingham in their squad for the Club World Cup, which could impact his availability for Lee Carsley’s England Under-21 team.

Sunderland has already made moves in the transfer market, signing Enzo Le Fé from Roma for a fee that could increase to £20 million and selling Tommy Watson to Brighton for £10 million.

Paris Saint-Germain Eyes Bournemouth’s Illia Zabarnyi for £50 Million

Paris Saint-Germain has initiated discussions with several center-back candidates, including Illia Zabarnyi from Bournemouth. The south coast club has set a price of over £50 million for the 22-year-old, more than double the £24 million paid to Dynamo Kyiv when he joined in January 2023.

Zabarnyi’s contract lacks a release clause similar to the one that enabled his teammate Dean Huijsen to transfer to Real Madrid for £50 million last month. PSG is also in talks with the agents of Kim Min-jae, the South Korean defender available from Bayern Munich for around £42 million, and considers Mario Gila from Lazio as another option.

Brighton & Hove Albion Pursue Olympiacos Star Charalampos Kostoulas

Brighton & Hove Albion has made a bid of £34 million for Charalampos Kostoulas, an 18-year-old forward who netted seven league goals for Olympiacos this past season.

It is anticipated that Brighton may need to pay close to £40 million, matching the fee paid for Georginio Rutter from Leeds United last summer. Kostoulas’s arrival is expected to set the stage for the potential sale of JoãO Pedro, who is eager to leave and has drawn interest from Newcastle United and other clubs.

Kostoulas comes from a footballing family, with his father Athanasios Kostoulas being a former Greece defender and his brother Konstantinos also playing for Olympiacos. He made a name for himself in youth football, leading the team as they won the Youth League in 2024 by defeating AC Milan 3-0 in the final.