Will Jobe Bellingham leave Sunderland after Wembley win - #onthewhistle - video Dailymotion

Sunderland Echo

Phil Smith discusses as part of his regular Q&A with fans

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00:00From Rob, who says, is Job's exit mutually agreed?

00:04So yeah, I think obviously this is a very, very fast development warning

00:07and things may have changed even by the time that you watch this video.

00:13But Job Bellingham is, you know, reported by Sky Sports Germany

00:17to have been in Frankfurt yesterday, meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt.

00:21We also know there's significant transfer interest from Borussia Dortmund

00:25and also from RB Leipzig.

00:28Nothing has been agreed yet.

00:30In terms of certainly not club to club,

00:32it's clear that Bellingham is sort of taking some time

00:34to see what decision he wants to make.

00:38So we'll sort of see how that develops over the next week or so.

00:41I think that in terms of Sunderland's perspective with Job Bellingham,

00:44I think mutually agreed, I think, his exit is a little bit strong.

00:49But I think it's clear that Sunderland are highly unlikely to stand in Bellingham's way

00:53if he decides that he does want to move forward.

00:56And there's a few different factors to consider in this.

00:58The first is that Sunderland are very, very respectful, I think,

01:02of the fact that Bellingham had offers on the table from the Premier League last summer.

01:07He could have pushed for a move, but he absolutely didn't.

01:10You know, it's something he's spoken about in the build-up to Wembley,

01:12that he was determined to stay and, you know,

01:15he felt he had unfinished business at the club.

01:17He wanted to get the club back on its feet after the season it had had in his first campaign,

01:20where obviously, personally, there was some really good stuff,

01:23but the club ultimately finished 16th.

01:25He was determined to almost put things right, if you like.

01:27Signed a contract extension, rejected that interest from the Premier League,

01:31and has gone on to be a big part of Sunderland's campaign.

01:35I think there is a respect from Sunderland's perspective for that.

01:39There is clearly already a really, really close relationship

01:41between Christian Speakman and the Bellingham family.

01:44Additionally, additional to that, the sort of respect for what he's done this year

01:49means I think they would be highly unlikely to stand in his way.

01:52It's also a broader point in terms of how you recruit these players as well.

01:55We talked about it with Jack Clark last year,

01:56that Jack Clark had had an opportunity to go to Burnley

01:59before the bid from Ipswich came in last summer.

02:01Again, Sunderland at that time didn't want to sell,

02:03didn't sell because didn't think it was the right time,

02:06but they didn't want to do that two summers in a row.

02:08When Ipswich came in, they felt it would be wrong to, again,

02:12deny Clark the opportunity to go to the Premier League.

02:15Their talk is always that if you want to sign these players

02:19who will have other interests when they come to Sunderland,

02:22you've got to demonstrate that you won't stand in their way

02:25if their development outstrips the pace of the clubs.

02:29So nothing is agreed.

02:31And the one big, big thing I would say is

02:32Bellingham is under contract until the summer of 2028.

02:36So Sunderland will not sell on the cheap.

02:39If Joe Bellingham does go, they will bring in a fee

02:41that I think will probably land somewhere between

02:43the £24 million for Darren Benton

02:45and the £30 million for Jordan Pickford.

02:47I don't think it will be far off a club record sale for Sunderland.

02:51So they won't let them go on the cheap, that's for sure,

02:55but I think it's highly unlikely they'll stand in his way

02:58for all the reasons I've outlined.

02:59And at the moment, time will tell,

03:01but I think it looks increasingly like Joe Bellingham will leave.

03:05You're listening to this podcast.

Will Jobe Bellingham leave Sunderland after Wembley win - #onthewhistle

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