Borussia Dortmund transfer would be too much, too soon for Sunderland player: View | OneFootball

Jobe Bellingham will be fairly satisfied with himself following his first season at Sunderland.

Not everything went his way, but he was given regular starting opportunities and that is a real boost for the midfielder, considering he's still only 18.

He doesn't turn 19 until September, and that just reinforces how young he is, but the teenager has already shown real class in the Championship and will be looking to build on this progress in the next season or two.

Bellingham has already attracted plenty of interest from other clubs since last summer's switch to the Stadium of Light, with Premier League giants Chelsea previously thought to have taken an interest in him.

Fellow English top-flight side Tottenham Hotspur were also thought to be in the mix, although the 18-year-old's teammate Jack Clarke may be prepared to advise him against a move to Spurs considering the lack of game time that the winger was able to secure there.

Lazio and Real Madrid have also been linked, and Borussia Dortmund are reported to be the latest team that are keen on the Englishman.

Football Insider, the outlet that have reported this interest, believe the Black Cats need a big sale this summer.

And with Bellingham's contract not expiring until the summer of 2027, the Wearside outfit could take a firm stance and sell him for a sizeable amount during the upcoming window.

Borussia Dortmund fans would have high expectations of Jobe Bellingham

No offence meant to the Black Cats, who are a big club and could be in the top flight sooner rather than later, but you have to question how many Dortmund fans kept a close eye on the Wearside club during the 2023/24 season.

If Jobe does come, the German side's fans will probably be expecting him to be just as good as his older brother Jude was when he made the move to Signal Iduna Park.

His older brother's performances alone will put plenty of pressure on Jobe to make an immediate impact and it's pressure that he may not cope too well with.

He will need regular starts if he's to have the best chance of adapting to life with the Bundesliga giants and he won't be guaranteed that if he makes the switch to Germany.

If he doesn't win that much game time at Dortmund, he won't be able to develop quickly, so the 18-year-old will need to weigh up whether a move to his brother's former club would really be the right decision.

Ian Maatsen may have successfully made the move up from the Championship to Dortmund, after spending the 2022/23 season at Burnley, but that doesn't mean Bellingham will be able to be as successful.

At 18, the latter is still very inexperienced.

Jobe Bellingham has unfinished work to do at Sunderland

Bellingham did well during his first campaign at the Stadium of Light, scoring seven goals in all competitions, which is an impressive record for an 18-year-old.

However, he didn't perform brilliantly at times and it seems clear that the teenager still has plenty of learning to do.

It's unclear who will be the Black Cats' next boss, but whoever they are, the board will probably be putting him under pressure to play Bellingham regularly considering how much the midfielder could be sold for in the future.

Whilst he's at the Stadium of Light, it would be difficult to see him not playing regularly unless he's injured, so staying put for now would probably be a good choice.

If he can iron out the issues in his game and continue developing on Wearside, he could be better equipped to play for Dortmund in the next year or two than he currently is now.

He was arguably thrown in at the deep end when he instantly became a regular starter in the English second tier, but a move to the German giants would be a much bigger step.