Hey Jude: Borussia Dortmund announce the arrival of Jude Bellingham

Borussia Dortmund have signed highly rated midfielder Jude Bellingham, making him the second most expensive teenager in Bundesliga history.

After months of speculation and rumours, Borussia Dortmund finally announced the arrival of Jude Bellingham today in amazing fashion, with several players singing along to the famous Beatles hit ‘Hey Jude’. The 17 year old joins the Black and Yellows on an initial three year contract, but his deal will be extended by a further two years when he turns 18 next year.

Michael Zorc praised Bellingham’s ‘extraordinary potential’, and said that he hopes to see the youngster develop at the club in the coming years.

"“Jude Bellingham has decided with absolute confidence to pursue his career at Borussia Dortmund. The primary motivation behind his decision were the prospects on the pitch we were able to offer him.”“He has enormous potential, which we will continue to develop together with him over the coming years. He already boasts astonishing quality with and without the ball, and has a strong mentality to boot. Jude will immediately strengthen our first team squad, but we will certainly give him all the time he needs to adapt to the higher level of play.”"

Borussia Dortmund beat out the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Chelsea for Bellingham’s signature, and he becomes the club’s seventh most expensive signing. He is coming on the back of an excellent campaign in the second division of English football with Birmingham City.

He will make his final appearance for his boyhood club on Wednesday, before linking up with his new Dortmund teammates for pre-season training on July 30. He will also travel to the Bad Ragaz training camp on August 10.

Bellingham said that he is “incredibly excited to have joined Borussia Dortmund” and that he cannot wait to play at the Signal Iduna Park.

"‘I can’t thank Birmingham City enough for what they have done for me – not just this season, but since the age of 7. Of course, I wish everyone associated with the club nothing but the best. Once a blue, always a blue.”“However, I’m incredibly excited to have joined one of the biggest clubs in Europe. The direction they are heading in and how much they help young players improve made it an easy decision for me personally and my family. I can’t wait to perform in front of over 80,000 fans when they are back inside one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world – hopefully as soon as possible!”"

Borussia Dortmund have been interested in signing Bellingham for quite a long time now. They made an approach to sign him last summer as well, but the midfielder decided to stay with Birmingham City. Now he makes the move to Germany and will straight away become part of the Borussia Dortmund first team.

Bellingham will wear the shirt number 22 at Borussia Dortmund, and will become the second Englishman to play for the club after teammate Jadon Sancho.