Latest news with #NikoKovac
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Dortmund agree €38m Jobe Bellingham transfer from Sunderland
Borussia Dortmund have agreed a fee of up to €38million (£32m; $43.3m) with Sunderland for Jobe Bellingham. The German club will pay €33m for the 19-year-old, with an additional €5m due in potential add-ons. Sunderland expect those add-ons to be triggered, which would represent a new club-record transfer for Dortmund, surpassing the widely reported figure of €35m they paid Rennes to sign Ousmane Dembele in 2016. Advertisement The fee will also break Sunderland's record for an outgoing transfer, with the newly-promoted club also retaining a 15 per cent sell-on clause as part of the deal. The Athletic reported earlier this week that Dortmund were confident of finalising a deal for Bellingham, who had also attracted interest from fellow Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt. Dortmund head coach Niko Kovac, sporting director Sebastian Kehl and CEO for sport Lars Ricken all visited Bellingham in England at the end of April. CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke also travelled to the north east on a separate visit. Kehl also then flew to Ibiza, where the Bellingham family was on holiday, to further advance the deal. Bellingham joined Sunderland from Birmingham City in the summer of 2023 and has played 90 times for them. Premier League sides Crystal Palace and Brentford were interested in signing the midfielder last summer but he instead signed a new contract at Sunderland, extending his terms until 2028. Bellingham was a regular starter for Sunderland in 2024-25 as they won promotion back to the Premier League via the play-offs. The Englishman joins his brother, Jude, in securing a move to Dortmund following a breakout year in the Championship. Jude, now aged 21, joined Dortmund from Birmingham City, where the siblings came through the academy, in 2020. Bellingham has been included in Lee Carsley's England Under-21 squad for the European Championship in Slovakia. England's first game is on Thursday but the tournament clashes with the Club World Cup in the United States, which Dortmund are a part of. Bellingham can be registered for Dortmund's squad in the extra transfer window FIFA offered to nations which runs from June 1-10, if they choose to. Bellingham's move away is the second major exit of the summer for Sunderland, after winger Tom Watson joined Brighton & Hove Albion in a £10m transfer. Additional reporting by Sebastian Stafford-Bloor. ()
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bayer Leverkusen vs Borussia Dortmund - team news, lineups, predictions
Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund go head-to-head at BayArena this Sunday in the 1. Bundesliga. The match will be broadcast live at 14:30 on Sky Sports +. Bayer Leverkusen have 68 points to their name this season and occupy 2nd position in the table. In their last game, Xabi Alonso's team drew 2-2 with SC Freiburg (1. Bundesliga 2024/25). Advertisement Borussia Dortmund currently have 51 points and lie in 5th position. Last time out, Niko Kovac's team triumphed 4-0 against Wolfsburg (1. Bundesliga 2024/25). The last meeting between the two teams ended with Bayer Leverkusen winning 3-2. Unavailable Bayer Leverkusen Jeanuël Belocian - Cruciate Ligament Tear Nordi Mukiele - Torn Muscle Fiber Alejo Sarco - Torn Muscle Fiber Borussia Dortmund Maximilian Beier - Ankle Injury Last starting XIs Bayer Leverkusen ( vs SC Freiburg 2025-05-04): Matej Kovár, Jeremie Frimpong, Piero Hincapié, Jonathan Tah, Edmond Tapsoba, Álex Grimaldo, Granit Xhaka, Florian Wirtz, Emiliano Buendía, Aleix García, Patrik Schick Borussia Dortmund ( vs Wolfsburg 2025-05-03): Gregor Kobel, Julian Ryerson, Waldemar Anton, Niklas Sule, Ramy Bensebaini, Daniel Svensson, Felix Nmecha, Julian Brandt, Pascal Gross, Serhou Guirassy, Jamie Gittens Did you know... by playmaker stats MANAGERS Xabi Alonso faced Niko Kovac on four occasions, recording two wins and two draws Niko Kovac faced Bayer Leverkusen on 11 occasions, recording two wins, two draws, and seven losses Xabi Alonso faced Borussia Dortmund on four occasions, recording one win, two draws, and one loss TEAMS Away from home, Borussia Dortmund currently has one draw in the last 14 games. Away from home, Borussia Dortmund comes from six consecutive games conceding goals. Away from home, Borussia Dortmund comes from two consecutive games without losing. Borussia Dortmund currently has one defeat in the last eight games. Borussia Dortmund currently has one draw in the last 11 games. Borussia Dortmund comes from five consecutive games scoring goals. Borussia Dortmund comes from five consecutive games without losing. Borussia Dortmund comes from four consecutive victories. At home, Bayer Leverkusen currently has two defeats in the last 22 games. At home, Bayer Leverkusen comes from three consecutive games without losing. Bayer Leverkusen currently has one defeat in the last eight games. Bayer Leverkusen comes from three consecutive games scoring goals. Bayer Leverkusen comes from five consecutive games without losing. HEAD TO HEAD
New York Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Borussia Dortmund confident of completing Jobe Bellingham signing from Sunderland
Borussia Dortmund are increasingly confident of signing Jobe Bellingham from Sunderland despite interest from Eintracht Frankfurt. As yet, there is no agreement between Dortmund and Sunderland over a transfer fee, but sources close to the deal, speaking on condition of anonymity, were confident that a deal would be struck. Advertisement Jobe is set to emulate his older brother, Jude Bellingham, by making the move to the German team. Jude moved to Dortmund for £20million in 2020 from Birmingham City, aged 17. Jobe played a key role in Sunderland's promotion to the Premier League during the 2024-25 campaign. Deployed in defensive and box-to-box midfield roles by head coach Regis Le Bris, he made 43 appearances and played the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 play-off final victory over Sheffield United. After the play-off final, Jobe and his parents travelled to Germany to meet with officials at Frankfurt, including head coach Dino Toppmoller and sporting director Markus Krosche, having previously toured the club's facilities in the weeks before. The meeting is said to have gone well; Frankfurt have developed an excellent reputation in their own right for developing young players. But Dortmund have been staging their own charm offensive. Head coach Niko Kovac, sporting director Sebastian Kehl and CEO for sport Lars Ricken all visited Jobe in England at the end of April, with CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke also travelling to the north east on a separate visit. Most recently, in a show of Dortmund's commitment, Kehl flew to Ibiza, where the Bellingham family were on holiday, to further state his club's case. Like his older brother, Jobe came through Birmingham's academy and went on to make 26 first-team appearances. Sunderland signed the then-17-year-old midfielder in the summer of 2023, on the same day Jude signed for Real Madrid. Brentford were interested in signing the teenager last summer, as were Crystal Palace, but Jobe instead signed a contract extension last August, extending his terms until the summer of 2028. Sunderland return to the Premier League next season for the first time in nine years. They suffered back-to-back relegations after finishing the 2016-17 Premier League campaign in 20th position with 24 points. Jobe made 90 appearances for Sunderland, scoring 11 goals and assisting four. Additional reporting: Philip Buckingham
The Sun
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Jobe Bellingham in line for huge £25m transfer which could see him take on brother Jude at Club World Cup
DORTMUND are confident they will beat Frankfurt to the signing of Jobe Bellingham and are offering him the chance to play at this month's Club World Cup. The Bundesliga giants are prepared to offer Sunderland £21million plus add-ons for the teenage midfielder. 2 2 Although Frankfurt are prepared to match that offer, it appears Dortmund are currently in a stronger position to secure the deal. And Dortmund are keen to complete the transfer meaning Bellingham, 19, could feature in the opening Club World Cup match against Brazilian giants Fluminense in New Jersey on June 17. It is five years since brother Jude joined Dortmund for £25m from Birmingham and he proved to be a stunning success before moving to Real Madrid. And the fact that he flourished in the Bundesliga is a key reason why Jobe - and his parents Mark and Denise who represent him - are keen for a move to Germany. Dortmund boss Niko Kovac has already spoken at length with the player, who guided Sunderland back to the Premier League last term. Sporting director Sebastian Kehl has been in negotiations with both Sunderland and Bellingham's parents. Sunderland, after clinching promotion, are keen to keep the youngster and could hold out for £25m. Dortmund qualified for the Club World Cup through Uefa's four-year ranking, while Madrid did after winning the 2022 Champions League. Both brothers came through the ranks at Birmingham City, so Dortmund would become the second team they've both played for. Jude and Jobe celebrated the Black Cats promotion in style with a trip to Wayne Lineker's beach club in Ibiza last week. The Madrid superstar then linked up with his England team-mates in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. A successful move to Dortmund could see Jobe earn his first senior Three Lions call up. They have have won major honours at Wembley, after Jobe won the play-off final a year after Jude lifted the Champions League with Carlo Ancelotti.
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Dortmund banish some of their 2023 ghosts while Leipzig and Freiburg create their own
The last time Borussia Dortmund had enjoyed an end-of-season run-in as successful as this was that season. Nearly two years on Niko Kovac and company didn't quite lay the ghost of 2023 but began to definitively draw a line under the fallout from it. On this occasion BVB faced what should have been a straightforward final day task at home and made it so. Where they had been cowed by nerves against Mainz in the last game of 2022-23 and let the Bundesliga slip through their collective fingers, this time they were ready to receive an unexpected opportunity. This time there was the right to a celebration, and there was the feeling that it had been earned. Pointing out that Saturday's final-day win over already-relegated Holstein Kiel perhaps salvaged the bare minimum – a top-four place – from this season would be to miss the point and to disregard the context. BVB had been languishing in 11th with just eight games to go, 10 points adrift of the Champions League places and with the prospect of any European football at all next season looking like a tough ask. If they had been able to take advantage of Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt (who began the day in fourth and third places respectively) playing each other on the final day, they had manufactured any luck of which they were the beneficiaries by winning seven and drawing one – away at Bayern – of the last eight, beating direct concurrents like Freiburg, Mainz and Borussia Mönchengladbach along the way, as well as winning at Leverkusen last week. Little wonder, then, that Lars Ricken proclaimed Kovac steering the team home as 'already one of the greatest coaching achievements in the history of BVB,' acknowledging that it might be classed as hyperbole, even if there was the suspicion that his words were at least laced with the relief of a huge financial burden having been lifted. Meltdown has been avoided, even if the chance to rectify the mistakes of recent times must be taken and some big salaries could do with being shed. Will it be enough to make Dortmund a serious Bundesliga force again? There is plenty of work to be done before anybody can start claiming that. Yet the fall of RB Leipzig underlines that today's Bundesliga high-flyer is tomorrow's crisis club – and how grateful BVB will be to be sending that latter tag out east. We already knew it wasn't a great season for Leipzig but there was something to be salvaged, even if the potential prize was not as great as what was waiting for Dortmund. They led too at half-time against Pokal finalists Stuttgart, but second-half by goals by Nick Woltemade (one of the season's surprise packages) and Ermedin Demirovic gave victory to Sebastian Hoeness and his men and left the home side without European qualification for the first time since promotion in 2016. Now there will be no active part in next year's Europa Conference League final at Red Bull Arena, and plenty of time to think about it this summer. There will be recriminations over mistakes made in recent years, particularly in the transfer market where big money has been spent for little return. A lack of leadership is evident, with calls already for Jürgen Klopp to become more involved and help get the project back on track. Red Bull did not push into Germany's top flight to tread water but having finished second in that first season up, the club has not emerged as a genuine competitor to Bayern. This is perhaps where we find out if Klopp's appointment is symbol or substance. With Bayern running rings around a Hoffenheim side trying desperately to stay away from the relegation playoff on Saturday (they were spared by Heidenheim's heavy home loss to Werder Bremen) despite batting back questions about the post-title team trip to Ibiza, the last week has felt as if maybe a return to the old order is where the Bundesliga is headed. What Leverkusen manage to do next will at least partly shape thinking around that, as will the destination of star turn Florian Wirtz, with many hoping he will end up at Manchester City or Liverpool after this week's flying visit to the north-west of England, in order to retain some semblance of competitive balance. First things first; Die Werkself need a coach. Simon Rolfes implicitly denied reports from Italy last week that Cesc Fàbregas has already decided to stay at Como ('no candidate has turned us down during the entire process,' said the sporting director) but whether Xabi Alonso is replaced by his fellow former Spain international, Erik ten Hag or anyone else, it needs to be done quickly with a summer of change ahead. Jonathan Tah and Jeremie Frimpong are also headed out and a number of other players are waiting to hear what's next. 'It's important who the coach is and how he views my situation,' admitted Robert Andrich, one of the dressing room leaders, after the 2-2 draw at Mainz which saw Leverkusen complete 34 games undefeated away from home, an entire two seasons (they last lost away on the final day of 2022-23, at Bochum), underlining that they have something worth preserving. If there is to be new blood shaking up the status quo in the upper reaches, the season climax wasn't the weekend when it was being announced. Seeing Freiburg fall down to the Europa League at the last was a tough watch, with centre-back Matthias Ginter one of those breaking down on the pitch at full time after the defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt. 'Perhaps the experience of the last two or three years will help us going forward,' Ginter suggested, though few would have really felt like that in the immediate aftermath, even if finishing fifth is an incredible achievement for Julian Schuster in the first season post-Christian Streich. Credit must be given to Eintracht, a factory for selling big names in recent years and who lost another one in Omar Marmoush back in January. They recovered from going behind in the first half at Freiburg, having passed up match points to secure a Champions League berth on the last two weekends, keeping their nerve and prevailing 3-1, with on-loan Leeds full-back Rasmus Kristensen roving as per usual and scoring twice. The youngest team in the Bundesliga, with coach Dino Toppmöller having extended his contract this week, may now have room to grow. Bayern and Dortmund can both go into summer with optimism, but both have shown in recent seasons that the Bundesliga's summit is a tricky tightrope to tread. The route to challenge is wide open. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Augsburg 1-2 Union Berlin, Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Holstein Kiel, Freiburg 1-3 Eintracht Frankfurt, Heidenheim 1-4 Werder Bremen, Hoffenheim 0-4 Bayern Munich, Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-1 Wolfsburg, Mainz 2-2 Leverkusen, RB Leipzig 2-3 Stuttgart, St Pauli 0-2 Bochum. Elversberg will face Heidenheim in the relegation playoff, aiming for a first-ever entry to the top flight having only reached the second tier for the first time in 2023. No such nerves, though, for Köln, who hammered Kaiserslautern 4-0 on the final day to clinch promotion and leapfrog already-promoted Hamburg to win the Bundesliga 2 title. Not bad for a team who sacked their sporting director and coach less than two weeks ago (71-year-old Friedhelm Funkel returned to win the last two games and seal the deal) and whose top scorer Tim Lemperle was injured in a street attack in the week. Managerless Wolfsburg narrowly avoided being the worst team in the second half of the season by winning 1-0 at Gladbach, though the big news was the home side's Germany striker Tim Kleindienst sustaining a serious knee injury which will keep him out for months – and finish any chances of a big summer transfer.
