Borussia Dortmund are closing in on the signing of Jobe Bellingham from Sunderland, with a €38million fee agreed, according to reports.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Bundesliga giants will pay a fixed fee of €33million, with a further €5m in add-ons (£32m in total).
Sunderland have also negotiated a 15% sell-on clause should Bellingham make another high-profile move in the future.
Romano wrote on X: “Jobe Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund, here we go!
“€33m fixed fee, €5m add-ons to Sunderland… and also 15% sell-on clause. Record sale for #SAFC and huge fee after initial €20m bid rejected.
“Excellent addition for BVB. Another Bellingham in Dortmund!”
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The move comes two years after Jobe left boyhood club Birmingham City for the Stadium of Light.
This transfer also reunites the Bellingham name with Dortmund, the club that helped propel his older brother Jude to global stardom before his own big-money move to Real Madrid in 2023.
Bellingham, still only 19, helped Sunderland earn promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, scoring four and assisting three in 40 Championship appearances in 2024/25.
Borussia Dortmund had an initial bid of €20m rejected earlier in the window, but returned with a substantially improved offer that Sunderland could not refuse.
The deal not only represents a huge windfall for the north-east club, but also a major show of faith from Dortmund in the younger Bellingham’s potential.
Jobe’s arrival follows a familiar path well-trodden by talented English youngsters seeking elite development in Germany, with Dortmund having previously nurtured not only Jude Bellingham, but also Jadon Sancho and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens – who has been strongly linked with a summer switch to Chelsea.
Former Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray was one of the first to identify Jobe’s potential, saying in October 2023: “He is very mature for his age.
“He acts like a seasoned pro and demands standards. Even in small-sided games he wants to win. You can see he has a very focused, driven thought pattern on where he is going and how he is going to get there. And that is to try to be excellent in everything you do.
“It’s a great mentality. It helps our team to have someone so young.”
For Sunderland, the sale eclipses their previous transfer record (Jordan Pickford to Everton for £30m).
While fans will be disappointed to lose one of their brightest prospects so soon, the scale of the fee and sell-on clause offers long-term benefits – especially with the club returning to the Premier League.
Dortmund will hope to complete the signing of Bellingham in time for the Club World Cup, with the special transfer window for the competition set to close on Tuesday.
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