Borussia Dortmund have officially announced the signing of English midfielder Jude Bellingham from Birmingham City.
The England U-17 captain flew into Germany last Thursday to complete his medical at the German club.
Dortmund had competition from Manchester United who had launched a bid for the midfielder back in January this year.
The transfer fee is believed to be around £25 million with ‘several million more’ for appearances and achievements. Dortmund has also confirmed he has signed a “long-term contract” at the Signal Iduna Park. He will wear the number 22 shirt at his new club.
This deal has a sense of déjà vu as Jadon Sancho also left for Dortmund as a 17-year old. Now Jude Bellingham will be looking to make the same impact that Sancho has.
Interestingly, Bellingham only signed his first professional contract at St. Andrew’s last month when he turned 17.
The signing of this contract allowed Birmingham City to receive such a substantial fee for the midfielder.
However, if Bellingham had not signed that deal, the fee would have been determined by a tribunal which could have seen a much smaller fee heading to St. Andrew’s.
Bellingham has said that the development of youth at Dortmund was a huge factor in his decision stating: “However, I’m incredibly excited to have joined one of Europe’s biggest clubs. The direction they are heading in and how much they help to improve young players made it an easy decision for myself and my family.”
After now officially becoming a Dortmund player, Bellingham will be available for Birmingham’s last game of the season against Derby on Wednesday.
After that, he will join up with his new squad on July 30th for training camp before a pre-season in Switzerland.
