Sunderland: Major Jobe Bellingham update provided amid Crystal Palace transfer interest | OneFootball

Jobe Bellingham is set to stay at Sunderland despite interest from Crystal Palace.

Highlights

Sunderland’s Jobe Bellingham will snub interest from Crystal Palace as he plans to stay at the Stadium of Light for at least one more season.

The 18-year-old only joined the Black Cats last year from Birmingham, and he went on to play 45 games as Sunderland endured a miserable campaign on the whole, with the side finishing 16th.

However, it was a good season for Bellingham, who scored seven goals. Even though he did have dips in form, it was a real breakthrough for the teenager in the professional game, as he featured in all but one of the Championship fixtures.

Jobe Bellingham to reject Crystal Palace transfer

Of course, it’s unusual for an 18-year-old to play such a prominent role given the demands of the second tier, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that clubs in the Premier League have started to take notice.

It has been claimed that Palace were pushing to sign Bellingham in the current window, with Sunderland demanding a fee in excess of £20m before they would sell the attacker.

Yet, in a fresh update, journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Bellingham doesn’t want to leave Wearside just yet, with the player hoping to play a big role under Regis Le Bris after his appointment.

“Jobe Bellingham’s plan is to stay at Sunderland at least for one more season despite interest from several Premier League clubs. Crystal Palace have been pushing for weeks but Jobe’s current stance is to stay and trust Sunderland’s ambitious project.”

Jobe Bellingham will reach the Premier League one day

This seems like a very sensible move from Bellingham, and you only have to look at his older brother Jude to see how the family value game time.

They have been very clever in the decisions made for both players, with the importance of playing football on a regular basis a priority.

So, whilst moving to Palace and the Premier League will have appealed, the reality is that Bellingham’s development could stall if he spent most of the season on the bench, which could happen given the talent in Oliver Glasner’s squad.

Another year at Sunderland will be beneficial for his career, and the hope for all involved will be that they can make the next step to the Premier League together.

Sunderland’s summer transfer plans

A pleasing part of the update for Sunderland is how Romano referenced the ‘ambitious project’, and this is a positive step on that front, but there’s still work to do.

There was a lot of understandable frustration at how long the managerial search took, and there is a spotlight on the recruitment team given how poor last season was, with the lack of a goalscoring striker a major problem that wasn’t addressed.