George Bello: Debut against BVB "dream come true" - Did "my research" on Arminia Bielefeld

“It was a dream come true,” for George Bello on the weekend when he started for Arminia Bielefeld against Borussia Dortmund (0-1). On Thursday, the 20-year-old US men’s national team left-back spoke to the press as part of a roundtable about his transfer to Germany, his transition to the Bundesliga, and why he chose to move from Atlanta United to Arminia Bielefeld. 

“You always want to play in the big leagues,” Bello said when asked about his start against BVB. “And to make your start against Borussia Dortmund, a big massive club like that, it’s really a blessing and hopefully just the start to great things.” 

For Bello, it was the first start after making four appearances off the bench previously (no goals). Going the full 90 minutes, Bello completed 92% of his 26 passe, had 46 touches, and completed 25 of his dribblings. 

Bello: "Over here for a reason" - Conversation with Kramer "important"

“When you first come over here, you realize you are over here for a reason,” Bello said when asked about joining a club in one of Europe’s top leagues. But the 21-year-old was quick to point out that he still has work ahead of him to improve his game. 

“I have to learn to be at the right position at the right time,” Bello said. “I have the pace, but if I am in the right defensive position, I don’t have to waste energy. I want to keep working on my defensive positioning, my one-v-one defending, learning to read the game a bit better, and work on finishing attacks.” 

The person to help him with that development is head coach Frank Kramer. A former English teacher, the 49-year-old helped Bello’s decision-making process to join a club that is still relatively unknown in the United States. 

“Everything went so quickly on the day of the transfer,” Bello said. “But I had a chat with coach Frank, and in that conversation, he made me feel that he cared about me, which is important. And he told me that I was coming to a team that was going to accept me, and I could be myself and approach anyone with any questions. The club just made me feel that this is the right place for me to grow as a player.” 

Kramer’s influence meant that Bello’s camp opted for Bielefeld despite having offers from other clubs, including teams with more lucrative offers. “It feels like he cares about you as a player and you developing as a player, which is what I need right now.”

Bello: "Did my research" on Bielefeld - Left-back a bargain

The 49-year-old head coach certainly has a good track record for developing players. Kramer oversaw various German youth national teams and then worked two years inside the Red Bull Salzburg academy setup. It is, therefore, not surprising that Kramer immediately spotted the enormous potential in the player. 

When it comes to Bello’s development, the general consensus about the 20-year-old is that his ceiling is very high. Already, Bello’s market value has grown to $4.4 million over the last few seasons in MLS. His contract situation, however, at Atlanta—the contract was set to expire at the end of the 2022 season—meant that Bielefeld were able to land the player for just under $2 million—the third-highest fee ever paid in club history. 

That is a bargain for one of the brightest US talents on the market. Signed to a contract until 2026, one source told Transfermarkt that Arminia could be making that fee back and earn a significant profit as early as this upcoming summer as Bello is already in the scouting books of several European top clubs. 

Before going to a big club, however, Bello wanted to have the right move to Europe first and, despite not knowing much about the club or the city, chose Arminia Bielefeld. “I’m going to be honest, going into it, I didn’t know much about Bielefeld and Arminia,” Bello said. “But I had that conversation with the coach, and I did my research for myself and concluded this was the right place to improve, develop and get experience to become a better player.”