Sunderland's commitment to signing young and upcoming talents took another step in the right direction with the confirmation of Jobe Bellingham's move from Birmingham City. The Black Cats are believed to have paid a fee in the region of £3million for the England youth international - although the club have published the transfer as undisclosed, like many do in the modern age of football.
While it's important to stress Jobe is a completely different player to that of his brother Jude - who recently sealed a mega money transfer to Real Madrid - there can be no denying his talent at such a young age. The 17-year-old made 22 appearances in the Sky Bet Championship last season and could well fill the void left by Edouard Michut last season.
Sunderland claim to have turned down the option to sign the young Frenchman, while the PSG schemer claims it was him who turned down a permanent move to the Stadium of Light. Regardless of the ins and outs of the transfer not coming to fruition, the Black Cats have lost a good technician in the heart of midfield and will be hoping Bellingham - who has a much more physical side to his game - can fill that void.
However, with every new arrival comes the possibility of a departure. Jobe is set to wear the number seven shirt at Sunderland next season, which has previously been allocated to Leon Dajaku.
READ MORE: Sunderland sign Jobe Bellingham from Birmingham on long-term deal
The German youth international spent the second-half of last season on loan with Swiss side FC St. Gallen where he failed to score but registered two assists in 12 games. Dajaku played ten times for the Black Cats in the Championship but managed just 188 minutes of game time.
The 22-year-old was a regular in Sunderland's Under-21s side last season but failed to make his mark. All signs are pointing towards an exit for the former Bayern Munich forward, who signed for the club at the start of their League One play-off winning campaign.
The loan deal from Union Berlin was made permanent at the beginning of last season, but the general consensus around Wearside is the club would have liked to avoided that deal. Nonetheless, Dajaku had triggered clauses in his loan deal which made it an obligation to buy.
Sunderland are likely to look to offload the German this summer and recoup some of the investment from their purchase. The headache surrounding Dajaku's best position means he's been unable to nail down a starting place in the Black Cats XI and Bellingham's arrival hints that he could be on his way out given the loss of his shirt number.
It hasn't been a complete disaster of a move for Dajaku, who scored some important goals in League One, and he stressed he was hoping to prove his worth in the Championship last season, but struggled to adjust to the step up.
