Jobe Bellingham played a key role in helping Sunderland secure promotion to the Premier League by winning the Championship playoff final last season and then completed a move to Borussia Dortmund in the summer window.
The Bundesliga club paid €30m to Sunderland to sign the midfielder and the move hasn’t worked out so far. Bellingham has played 186 minutes from five games and came off the bench in the last two matches.
Three days ago, Bild reported BVB are concerned that 19-year-old’s camp could become a problem for them if Niko Kovač were to continue leaving him out of the playing XI. A day later, the same outlet said the Bundesliga club are annoyed by constant talk around him.
Sky Deutschland say the German club hoped Bellingham would immediately impress for them and instead, he’s been reduced to as a substitute role.
Although Kovač says he’s “satisfied with his development”, he’s explained the former Sunderland man needs to improve.
“He still has to grow into the game. We can’t expect him to have it all figured out straight away,” he said.
Bellingham joined Sunderland from Birmingham City and a move to BVB sees him play at the highest level for the first time in his career. The manager says this could have also played a part in his early struggles.
“When you sign a contract here, it’s not just a lucrative contract, but also one where you know there’s a lot of competition,” Kovač explained.
“The jump from the English second division to the Bundesliga is quite a leap. We don’t need to beat around the bush about that.”
