On March 4th, SportBild reported Borussia Dortmund have ‘won the race’ to sign Birmingham City’s talented youngster Jude Bellingham, overtaking Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea in the process.
It was also explained the German side will pay a club record fee of around €35m to acquire the 16-year-old’s services.
Local newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten partly echoes claims made by SportBild as they state the young midfielder will arrive at Signal Iduna Park in the summer, where he will be a part of Dortmund’s first team.
When it comes to the transfer fee, Ruhr Nachrichten and SportBild are not on the same page. The former claims Lucien Favre’s side will not break the club-record for Bellingham and instead will ‘probably’ only ‘pay a transfer allowance’ to the Championship club.
Ruhr Nachrichten doesn’t provide the exact figure of the ‘allowance’ that Dortmund are expected to pay Birmingham, but it’s clear they feel it would be a lot less than €35m.
In January of this year, the BBC reported Bellingham wasn’t yet able to sign a full contract: ‘Birmingham City are hopeful 16-year-old midfielder Jude Bellingham will sign a professional contract with the Championship club this summer.
Under Football Association rules, Bellingham – who is Blues’ youngest ever player – can only sign a full-time deal when he turns 17 in June.’
Earlier today, we covered claims from Kicker that the interest from Dortmund isn’t new as they tried to sign the teenager last year. .
A report from Bild backs it up. They state Dortmund invited the player’s representative to watch the derby against Schalke last April. This was to make any potential Dortmund move for Bellingham ‘palatable’.
