On the face of it, leaving a promoted club immediately after helping to put them back in the Premier League seems like a questionable decision.
Jobe Bellingham appears to have made that choice and while he understandably would prefer not to exist in the shadow of his older brother, ticking off a second shared club before he gets out of his teenage years isn’t the obvious way to go about avoiding it.
But there’s both logic and sentiment behind the 19-year-old’s planning and it doesn’t take much more than a light scratching of the surface to locate them.
Is leaving Sunderland the right move for Bellingham?
Playing in the Premier League might be the dream for most young English footballers but the nightmare can be all too real for promoted teams.
All six clubs who went up from the Championship to play in the top flight in the last two seasons were relegated straight back to the second tier. That won’t always be the case – Leeds United in particular will hope to buck the trend next season – but Sunderland are favourites for the drop in 2025-26.
Indeed, all three promoted teams are odds-on to be relegated according to bookmakers and the season ahead could be a pretty unpleasant one that Sunderland will have to take on the chin in the name of long-term progress.
Bellingham, whose brother Jude left Birmingham City for Borussia Dortmund five years ago and is now an established Real Madrid and England star, is reportedly close to following in his footsteps in the transfer mini-window.
After helping the Black Cats claw their way back to the top division, the younger Bellingham is set to take advantage of a verbal deal to leave the Stadium of Light for a bargain fee.
With a gentlemen’s agreement in place to allow Dortmund to sign Bellingham for less than his new release clause, according to transfer expert Keith Downie, the midfielder’s switch to the Bundesliga has clearly been on the cards since before Sunderland had a tangible shot at promotion.
That, presumably, left Bellingham with a choice to make. In FourFourTwo's opinion, there’s more sense to taking the Dortmund route than immediately meets the eye.
The Westfalenstadion has been a welcoming home for young English players in recent years. Dortmund have played a big part in the development of not only Jude Bellingham but also Jadon Sancho, Jamie Gittens and Carney Chukwuemeka.
Gittens could be in line for a move back to Chelsea, where he played youth football, while Chukwuemeka’s loan from Chelsea could be extended to allow him to play for BVB at this month’s Club World Cup.
For Dortmund, the chance to pick up another highly-rated young English talent for a cut-price fee is likely too good to resist.
According to reports, Bellingham’s move is nearly done. A five-year contract has apparently been agreed between Dortmund and the player, while the aforementioned gentlemen’s agreement should help smooth the way to a fee that works for both clubs.
