Borussia Dortmund may be about to win the race to recruit Sunderland’s Jobe Bellingham, but Eintracht Frankfurt cannot be accused of complacency.
Analysis reported earlier on Tuesday that, despite interest from Arsenal, Manchester United, Aston Villa, and perennial EFL diamond-hunters Crystal Palace, Borussia Dortmund were likely to buy Jobe Bellingham in a deal that might make him the most expensive Black Cats export in history.
That is the current record held by Everton and England’s number one Jordan Pickford.
A record Bellingham may now be about to break, with add-ons and bonuses potentially netting Sunderland more than £30 million for a player who arrived from Birmingham City for a tenth of that amount.
If Sunderland is sad in losing one of Regis Le Bris’ starting just a week and a half after securing their return to the Premier League, they are not alone.
Frankfurt plans without Jobe Bellingham, as Sunderland star chooses Dortmund.
Eintracht Frankfurt gave Jobe Bellingham a tour of their training ground and Commerzbank Arena stadium at the end of May.
Face-to-face negotiations were made with Markus Krosche, the highly regarded sporting director who never misses an opportunity to highlight Frankfurt’s great record of developing young players.
Bellingham might have imitated Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush in Frankfurt, as well as Randal Kolo Muani, Sebastien Haller, and PSG’s Champions League-winning central defender William Pacho.
Instead, he intends to continue Dortmund’s famous heritage of transforming ambitious young Englishmen into household names. A tradition that celebrates Jude Bellingham, Jobe’s older sibling, as its clean posterboy.
Meanwhile, the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper claims that Frankfurt has replied ‘without emotion’ to Bellingham’s pick as the 2022 Europa League winners. The Eagles estimate the slick midfielder’s worth at about £25 million. Less than Sunderland’s asking price.
‘Eintracht believes such a sum to be excessive,’ the magazine writes. ‘For a player who has only appeared in the English second level thus far.
Bundesliga clubs look to Ligue 1 and Denmark for options.
Frankfurt has only ever signed one player for more than £20 million, forward Elye Wahi. There are concerns at the Commerzbank Arena regarding Bellingham’s ability to expand quickly enough to bring the team a significant profit a few years down the road.
With the much-admired Hugo Ekitike set to depart Frankfurt for a cost well in excess of £50 million, Dino Toppmoller’s team is reportedly in advanced talks to sign another attack-minded 19-year-old schemer. Victor Froholdt is expected to arrive for roughly £8.5 million.
They also like the stylish Swede Sebastian Nanasi, though he would be far more expensive than Froholdt, who has thrived in France after moving to Strasbourg for 11 million euros a year ago. This is another Frankfurt trademark signing.
Another youthful attacker is about to detonate. Fortunately, with Krosche in charge, the future of Commerzbank seems bright, even without Jude Bellingham.
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