Sunderland star Jobe Bellingham is a man in demand.
Sunderland youngster Jobe Bellingham is wanted by a growing number of Premier League teams following his maiden season on Wearside.
The 18-year-old featured in all but one of his side’s Championship fixtures during the 2023/24 campaign, scoring seven goals.
Bellingham also played in a number of positions; central midfield, attacking midfield, and even as a no.9 where he flourished on occasion.
He only joined the Black Cats from Birmingham City last summer. But already it looks like he could be on the move with Tottenham Hotspur among the clubs interested.
As well as Spurs, Brentford and Crystal Palace are interested. Though it’s Spurs who’ve made first contact with Sunderland over a potential move for Bellingham.
The Black Cats are thought to want £20million to part ways with Bellingham this summer.
Jobe Bellingham can learn from Jack Clarke mistake
Bellingham’s Sunderland teammate Jack Clarke was once the subject of an exciting move to Tottenham Hotspur, with the Londoners paying Leeds United £10million for the now Black Cats star in 2019.
The move didn’t work out, though. Clarke would only ever make four first-team appearances for Spurs, none of which in the Premier League, before leaving to sign for Sunderland on a permanent deal in 2022.
Spurs paid £10million for Clarke who Sunderland eventually signed for significantly less. Now, Clarke is worth upwards of £20million, and like Bellingham, he has options ahead of him this summer.
But the Clarke example shows Bellingham that a big move at such a young age isn’t always the answer, and that Spurs may not be the best club either; they were unwilling to give Clarke much of a chance but may be regretting that now after seeing how well he’s done with Sunderland.
The stance Jobe Bellingham should take on Sunderland exit amid Tottenham Hotspur links
If Bellingham has any say in the matter, he should look to stay with Sunderland for another season.
It’ll no doubt be tempting to take on the first Premier League opportunity that comes his way. But the Clarke example proves that jumping up to the top flight too soon can actually hinder a player’s development.
Clarke’s worked his way back up the leagues, even staying at Sunderland for the 2023/24 campaign despite Premier League bids, although that was largely due to the club rejecting the bids.
And now Clarke is a much better player for it. Bellingham, with another season of Championship football under his belt, could also become a much better player, and a much more valuable one too.
So there’s definitely reason for Bellingham to want to stay at Sunderland and also for the club to want to keep him for another year.
£20million seems like a hopeful asking price right now. He’s still very young and very inexperienced and there were spells in the 2023/24 campaign where Bellingham was quite ineffective.
But playing so much football will have set Bellingham up for a much more promising 2023/24 season, and playing regular football again next season will enable him to push on even more.
Spending it in the doldrums at Spurs or out on loan somewhere unfamiliar doesn’t seem like the smartest next step.
It’s largely down to Sunderland, though, who have a number of players they could cash in on this summer, with Clarke and Bellingham being two.