Sunderland are determined not to sell Jobe Bellingham despite interest in the England Under-19 midfielder from clubs in the Premier League and elsewhere in Europe.
Tottenham, Brentford and Crystal Palace are believed to be among the English sides to have shown an interest in Bellingham, who was at Wembley on Saturday to watch his brother, Jude, win the Champions League with Real Madrid against Borussia Dortmund.
The German side, for whom Jude played, have also shown an interest in Jobe, although it is understood he is unlikely to follow in his brother’s footsteps because he is keen to pursue his own path after leaving Birmingham last year to join Sunderland for an undisclosed fee.
Several other clubs in Europe are believed to have been tracking the 18-year-old, who made 45 appearances in the Championship this season and scored seven goals. The Sunderland owner, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, is said to be particularly keen not to sell Bellingham because he views him as a crucial part of his squad that is aiming for promotion after ending a disappointing 16th.
Dreyfus is expected to demand more than £20m for a player who has four years of his contract remaining, with Birmingham believed to have a sell-on clause of 15%. Brentford have also been linked with a move for Sunderland’s former Spurs winger Jack Clark, as have Southampton.
Palace are close to making their first two signings since Oliver Glasner was appointed as manager. They have agreed terms with the Japan forward Daichi Kamada over a free transfer and he is expected in south London this week to complete his medical. Kamada will link up again with Glasner after being part of his Eintracht Frankfurt side that won the Europa League in 2022 before moving to Lazio last year.
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Palace are also expected to seal the signing of Chadi Riad from Barcelona, the Morocco defender having agreed terms on a five-year deal and completed his medical last week.
Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta and Michael Olise have been named in France’s 25-man provisional squad for this summer’s Olympics. Mateta has been selected as one of three overage players by the manager, Thierry Henry, has previously won 11 under-21 caps.
Meanwhile, West Ham are battling to complete the £25.5m signing of the Palmeiras winger, Luis Guilherme, but they face competition from clubs in Europe and the Saudi Pro League.
Tim Steidten, West Ham’s technical director, has been leading the push for a deal for the 18-year-old, who is rated as one of the best young players in Brazil. It emerged on Monday morning that the move for Guilherme was on the brink of collapsing over personal terms.
However, West Ham have renewed optimism about their chances of signing Guilherme, who is capable of playing in a variety of attacking positions. They had feared that they would not be able to compete with the wages that the Brazil Under-20 international can expect to receive if he moves to Saudi Arabia.
But Steidten has been in Brazil for talks and West Ham want to back the German. They hope that Guilherme, who has been linked with Bayern Munich and Chelsea, will see moving to the Premier League as beneficial for his development.
Julen Lopetegui, who has replaced David Moyes as West Ham’s manager, is looking for between six and eight signings and was keen on a £12.5m deal for the Flamengo centre-back, Fabrício Bruno. However, the 28-year-old Brazil international looks set to move to the Saudi Pro League for bigger wages.
