Crystal Palace are pushing to sign Sunderland midfielder Jobe Bellingham in the ongoing summer transfer window.
Jobe Bellingham, 18, left his boyhood club Birmingham City last summer to join Sunderland. While the Black Caps endured a terrible campaign in the Championship and finished 16th, the teenager had a satisfactory individual campaign overall, netting seven goals and registering an assist in 45 appearances.
For someone so young, the midfielder struggled for consistency and wasn’t helped with how the entire team performed. But Jobe Bellingham’s bursts of potential have caught the attention of Crystal Palace, who have reportedly made his signing of their summer’s top priorities. The Eagles are working on a deal to sign him but the decision comes down to the 18-year-old Englishman, with many clubs interested in his services.
Crystal Palace set to raid Championship again
Crystal Palace have emphasised recruiting young talents with high potential from around Europe, most coming from the Championship. Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Adam Wharton have all been recruited from the Championship and given the exposure to develop.
This transfer strategy has been effective for the South London club in recent years, with chairman Steve Parish and sporting director Dougie Freedman playing key roles behind the scenes. The likes of Olise, Eze and Wharton were signed for sensible prices in recent years, and the club will certainly make a sizeable profit on the trio if they decide to leave in the future.
The Eagles are about to raid England’s second-tier again—this time for Jobe Bellingham. The England under-20 international has already established himself as a pivotal figure for Sunderland in his very first season and could be tempted to make the step up to the Premier League.
However, the youngster’s huge potential and the fact that he has a contract until 2027 means Sunderland are in no rush to sell him this year. They value him over £20 million as a result, which shouldn’t be a problem for Palace due to a potential windfall from Olise’s sale to Bayern Munich.
As things stand, there is no surety that Bellingham will pursue a move this summer and could yet decide to stay with Sunderland for another season of regular football in the Championship.
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.
