"£30-40m" - Sunderland AFC: Jobe Bellingham demand amid Borussia Dortmund interest | OneFootball

We asked our Sunderland fan pundit about Borussia Dortmund's interest in Jobe Bellingham

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sunderland have been told to increase their asking price for Jobe Bellingham to between £30million and £40million amid recent reports that Borussia Dortmund want to sign the 19-year-old.

The Sun have reported that the German giants, who reached the Champions League final last season, have stepped-up their interest in the Sunderland attacking midfielder, and they watched him in action in the Black Cats' recent 0-0 draw away to Preston North End.

It's reported that the Black Cats would want a fee of £20million to prize him away from the Stadium of Light, with the German giants seemingly keen for a repeat of Jude Bellingham's move in 2019, where he developed into one of the best midfielders in the world and was subsequently sold to Real Madrid in the summer of 2023.

However, Sunderland have been told that the £20million asking price is "an insult", and they should instead be demanding far more from Dortmund.

Sunderland told to raise Jobe Bellingham's asking price

One of our Sunderland fan pundits, Jay Woodhead, believes that his side should be demanding a hefty fee for Bellingham, and wouldn't accept less than between £30million and £40million.

Speaking to Football League World, Jay said: "I can see Jobe doing something like that and going to follow in his brother’s footsteps to Dortmund or another international club.

"The price-tag is a bit of an insult to be honest with you. We should be asking for quite a lot for Jobe because we’ve seen how talented he is and what his brother has done, so I wouldn’t take less than about £30million - £40million for him.

"That could be me being a bit deluded, but I can’t see us selling for anything less than that, because why should we? We’ve got a player on our hands, and we don’t have to sell him as he signed a new contract, so it comes down to what a club is willing to pay for him.

"I think if we do sell him we should put a sell-on clause for other clubs like Jude had when he went to Dortmund, and look at Birmingham now. They’ve earned quite a bit from that Jude deal, so we should follow in the footsteps of Birmingham and put that clause in, but like I said, I wouldn’t take less than £30m-£40m for Jobe."

New Jobe Bellingham contract means Sunderland should hold out for big money

Bellingham only put pen-to-paper on a new deal at Sunderland in the summer, so the ball is firmly in their court when it comes to demanding a transfer fee.

It's not as if his deal at the Stadium of Light is nearing the end and the Black Cats are desperate to sell to avoid losing him for free, he's contracted until the summer of 2028, meaning they should demand top dollar.

He's made an excellent start to the new campaign and has scored two goals and registered one assist in 13 appearances, and Sunderland should be demanding more than £20million for the 19-year-old.

Not only is he an important player for them, but if they were to sell him, and he impressed at Dortmund, he could quite possibly be sold on for huge money, meaning Sunderland would regret parting ways with him for £20million.

They should be shrewd and demand more from Dortmund to test their resolve and see just how desperate they are to complete the deal.