Jude Bellingham closing in on £20m Dortmund switch
Jude Bellingham could soon become a Borussia Dortmund player, after agreeing a five-year deal with the Bundesliga side.
BBC Sport state that negotiations between Dortmund and Birmingham City have increased in significance over the past week, with the German outfit set to pay an initial fee of £20m for the player.
At the age of 16 years and 38 days, Bellingham became Birmingham’s youngest player in history when he made his debut against Portsmouth in the League Cup, and has continued to develop into one of the most exciting young prospects in English and European football.
He has gone on to score four goals and assist two others for the Blues in the Championship so far this campaign, in a team which has struggled in the bottom half of the table.
At national level, he has captained both the England U15s and U17s.
In January, Bellingham was heavily linked with a move to Manchester United and was even invited for a tour of their Trafford Training Centre.
However, Dortmund have allegedly won the race to sign the wonderkid by highlighting their recent history of developing young players, most notably Bellingham’s compatriot Jadon Sancho who transferred to Germany from Manchester City to become one of the current elite wingers in Europe.
With six remaining games in the Championship, Birmingham are down in lowly 17th, and face promotion-chasing Fulham in their next fixture on Saturday.