'No doubts': Nico Kovac issues Jobe Bellingham update as Dortmund star eyes Man City start | OneFootball

The Briton struggled to find his feet on arrival in the Bundesliga

Niko Kovac said he is pleased with Jobe Bellingham’s improvement after he made a rocky start to his Borussia Dortmund career.

Bellingham followed his brother Jude’s lead in trading the Championship for the Bundesliga this summer, moving from Sunderland for a reported £32million, but has struggled to get to grips with life in Dortmund.

In his four appearances since that nightmare cameo, though, Bellingham seems to have found his feet. BILD report Kovac and his coaching staff have held regular one-on-one meetings with Bellingham to monitor his progression, and the talks have had a clear effect.

Bellingham has responded well after gifting Bayern Munich a goal in Der Klassiker

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He was handed a rare start against Copenhagen in the Champions League and delivered a brace of assists in a 4-2 win, before playing 120 minutes in a DFB Pokal win over Eintracht Frankfurt. BILD adds that Bellingham is pushing to break into Dortmund’s starting line-up ahead of their trip to face Manchester City on Tuesday.

Speaking after last weekend’s win over Augsburg, Kovac said he was pleased with Bellingham’s improvement.

"You could already see in the last game in Frankfurt what qualities he has," he said. "He's present, has good physicality and technical quality, which he also showed here in Augsburg in his 30 minutes on the pitch."

"I really have no doubts about him. On the contrary, I know what he can do.

“We're building him up gradually here - actually faster than I expected myself - because the boy really has a lot of quality."