Birmingham City wonderkid midfielder Jobe Bellingham is closing in on a £3 million transfer to Sky Bet Championship rivals Sunderland, with a medical expected to take place in the coming days.
The 17-year-old has shown heaps of promise for Blues, especially during the last few matches of the 2022/23 season, but his time is already up. Bellingham’s brother, Jude, watched on as he played in the last game of the campaign against Sheffield United - and probably his last for the club full stop.
Bellingham isn’t the only one expected to leave this summer as a new era gets underway at St. Andrew’s. It’s not quite completed yet, but a takeover from Shelby Companies Ltd, led by Tom Wagner, looks all but confirmed.
Plenty of new faces will likely come through the door ahead of next campaign, but many will have to depart first. From loan players who Blues cannot afford to sign permanently to contract expirees, here are 12 expected to leave as things stand.
1. Jobe Bellingham
Unless something major happens last minute, Bellingham will be making a move to Sunderland in the summer transfer window for a fee in the region of £3 million.
2. Troy Deeney
As it stands, Blues’ captain hasn’t had the one-year extension option triggered and it would appear he could be surplus to requirements with Lukas Jutkiewicz still doing a stellar job as a target man.
3. Auston Trusty
Has already said his farewells and John Eustace admitted the American is of a Premier League level, making it extremely unlikely for a permanent move to be pulled off.
4. Hannibal Mejbri
Perhaps more likely to return than Trusty, but Hannibal is another expected to go on to bigger and better things. Eustace once described the Tunisian as a “£20 million player”.