Sunderland have reportedly ‘officially’ rejected the £21million bid after this verdict from Kristjaan Speakman
Borussia Dortmund are expected to return with an improved offer as they continue their pursuit of England U21 midfielder Jobe Bellingham. According to Sky Germany, an initial bid of up to €25million (£21million) has been turned down by Sunderland following their promotion to the Premier League.
The Bundesliga side are reportedly working swiftly on a revised proposal, with a package worth €25million plus an additional €5million in performance-related bonuses believed to be enough to reach an agreement.
Dortmund are keen to secure the 19-year-old’s signature ahead of the Club World Cup later this summer, a competition Bellingham himself is said to be eager to feature in. However, the clock is ticking, with Bellingham also expected to link up with England’s U21 squad for the European Championship in Slovakia, meaning Dortmund will need to finalise any move quickly if they hope to bring him to Germany in time.
What has Kristjaan Speakman said about Jobe and other transfers?
Kristjaan Speakman says Sunderland are ready for the possibility of key players leaving this summer but remains confident the core of the promotion-winning squad will stay intact. While several other players have also attracted transfer interest, the club’s sporting director believes the majority will opt to remain on Wearside, just as they have in recent transfer windows.
“We’ve lost key players over the last few windows, players who would have been perceived as key, star players within the group," Speakman said. "You’ve always got to have a plan in place for all the group. I’ve always said that the byproduct of a successful team will be the backhanded compliment of people wanting your players. I’m sure if I went on social media today, or on the internet, there’ll be a raft of players who have done well for Sunderland that other teams would like.
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“I’m proud of that. I’m proud of those individual players for doing so well that they get that recognition. But it’s our job to make sure that people see Sunderland as where their focus needs to be, and I think we’ve managed to do that over the last couple of years, which has resulted in a successful team."
While defeat in the play-off final may have led to more departures, Speakman believes promotion gives the club a strong chance of retaining their talented players - as was the case when they won promotion from League One.
"We wanted to build a squad in League One whereby 50% of that squad we felt could go into the Championship and play," he said. "We wanted to try and do the same in terms of our Championship squad, the difference being that the gap is so big and so it's a little bit harder to have that same level of certainty. Naturally, we've had players who have performed really well for us who will be of interest to other teams - I've always said that would be the byproduct of our success. Getting promoted probably satisfies the ambitions of some of those players, which is great. There are obviously some who might be able to part of what we're doing at the next level and might need another route, that's football."
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