Borussia Dortmund signs Jobe Bellingham, Real Madrid star Jude's younger brother
DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — The Bellingham name is back at Borussia Dortmund.
Jobe Bellingham signed a five-year-deal on Tuesday with the German club where his older brother developed into one of the world's best midfielders before joining Real Madrid in 2023.
The younger Bellingham, 19, leaves Sunderland just over two weeks after helping it to win promotion back to the Premier League through the playoff final. He reportedly turned down an offer from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bellingham is eligible for Dortmund's opening group-stage games this month at the Club World Cup in the United States. He will wear No. 77 at the tournament, Dortmund said.
Dortmund starts against Brazil's Fluminense on June 17 followed by Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa on June 21 and South Korea's Ulsan HD four days after that.
Following in his brother's footsteps
Just like Jude, Jobe Bellingham is a central midfielder who likes to get forward and support attacks.
Jobe has followed in his brother's footsteps by coming through the Birmingham City academy and making his senior debut at the age of 16 in 2022. He's also played for England Under-21s.
There are a couple of differences between the Bellinghams, too.
Jobe is two years older than Jude was when he signed for Dortmund in 2020, and he also has experience of playing a center-forward role in a handful of games for Sunderland.
His performances for Sunderland in the second-division Championship this season saw Bellingham named the league's young player of the year in April and named in its team of the season.
Bellingham joins a Dortmund team which narrowly secured Champions League qualification for next season by rising to fourth place on the final day of the Bundesliga.
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Winnipeg Free Press
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Winnipeg Free Press
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