Birmingham City face wait as Fabrizio Romano confirms Crystal Palace and Sunderland transfer decision

Birmingham City will have to wait for any kind of transfer windfall on Jobe Bellingham after it emerged that he would be staying with Sunderland.

Blues sold Bellingham to the Black Cats last summer for a fee of around £5m, and following eight goal contributions last season, he has attracted the attention of many top-tier teams.

Crystal Palace were said to be the most likely to sign Jobe, who is the younger brother of Real Madrid and England superstar Jude. The Eagles though will have to wait at least 12 months, because it seems that the 18-year-old is intent on remaining at the Stadium of Light.

In a tweet, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano said: "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 #SAFC ambitious project."

Sunderland value Bellingham at around £20m, and before Bellingham departed St Andrew's last summer, they inserted a 15% sell-on-clause. If a club were to meet Sunderland's valuation and Bellingham change his stance, then they would get a windfall of around £3m.

Bellingham signed a 'long-term' contract with the Wearside club last summer and is expected to be under contract with them for another three seasons. If Bellingham was to continue performing at the level he was at last season then his value could go up meaning a larger windfall.

Jobe like his brother Jude burst on to the scene at an early age and appeared a fair few times for the first-team. He played 26 times for the first-team during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaign. The Stourbridge-born star opted to depart Birmingham last summer just before Knighthead Capital Management completed their takeover of the football club.