Making it to the Premier League complicated things. Financially, Sunderland were suddenly in a position where they could afford to pass up a profit of £30m-or-so if they wanted to. In footballing terms, they could offer Bellingham the opportunity to play in the English top-flight, something his elder brother, Jude, has not yet done. There was also the need to back Regis Le Bris and construct the strongest possible squad in the hope of securing top-flight survival. Where would selling Bellingham fit into that?
In the end, the die was already cast. The speed with which Bellingham conducted talks with his German suitors in the wake of Sunderland’s Wembley win underlined how far the preparatory discussions had already gone. Guided by his father, Mark, who is also a FIFA-registered agent, it has always felt that 19-year-old Jobe has had his career mapped out for him. A couple of seasons finding his feet in the Championship, then off to Dortmund to follow in Jude’s footsteps. It was always going to be pretty much impossible for Sunderland to stand in his way.
What promotion did enable the Black Cats to do, though, was extract the maximum possible value from their asset. Dortmund’s initial bid involved an up-front payment of €20m. Had Sunderland been preparing for another season in the Championship, they would almost certainly have had to bank that fee. As it was, they were able to dig in their heels, further boosted by the knowledge that Dortmund were extremely keen to complete a deal by Tuesday’s early-summer deadline, enabling them to name Bellingham in their squad for the Club World Cup.
The result was that Sunderland were able to secure a club-record fee, the vast majority of which is not dependent on any performance-related criteria. An initial fee of €33m, a further €5m of potential add-ons and a 15 per cent sell-on fee if Bellingham leaves Dortmund for a profit in the future. It will be the highest transfer fee Sunderland have ever received, and the second most expensive signing in Dortmund’s history. It is also a much higher fee than the Bundesliga club shelled out to sign Jude.
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By any metric, it is a sensational deal for Sunderland, vividly highlighting the success of the ‘model’ Kristjaan Speakman has developed during his time as sporting director. Sign young, hungry, unproven talent, develop that talent within the first-team group, then sell for a profit that can be reinvested into the squad. Bellingham was signed for around £3m from Birmingham. Even with a sell-on fee now due to the Blues, that is quite some profit in the space of two seasons.
It remains to be seen how successfully Sunderland reinvest the money, along with the profit that remains unspent following last summer’s sale of Jack Clarke, but in Bellingham, Clarke and Ross Stewart, the Black Cats have now sold three signings for a combined profit of around £55m. That’s fantastic business, and that’s before the rise in value of the likes of Trai Hume, Dan Ballard and Eliezer Mayenda is also considered.
From Bellingham’s perspective, it is also a case of job done. Or perhaps Jobe done. The teenager moved to the Stadium of Light hoping to develop his career and carve out his own niche, separate from simply being Jude’s younger brother. He has successfully achieved that, and then some.
He has proved he is a fine footballer in his own right – Dortmund would not have been signing him otherwise – and enjoyed an unforgettable day at Wembley as he played a major role in Sunderland’s play-off final success. He benefited from Sunderland’s support, not to mention the astute guidance provided by Le Bris, and the Black Cats were also winners, benefiting from the services of one of the best players in the Football League for two seasons.
It has been a rare case of everyone getting what they wanted. Sunderland got a fine midfielder and a £30m profit. Bellingham got two years of valuable experience and a dream move to the Bundesliga. Borussia Dortmund got a statement signing with huge development potential. A model signing then. In more ways than one.
