Jobe Bellingham is more than just the brother of a global superstar.
The 18-year-old is a talent in his own right, but has started his career in the sizable shadow of his brother, Jude, who has had a meteoric rise to the top of the game.
Since joining Real Madrid, Jude has become one of football’s elite after winning the Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d’Or awards and getting the Golden Boy award, indicating that the 20-year-old is set to dominate football from this point on.
But while Jude is banging in goals for fun in Madrid, Jobe is quietly building some top-level interest of his own.
Troy Deeney spent two years at St Andrews and was able to get a close look at Jobe, but revealed in January this year that he could find it tricky to step out of his brother’s shadow.
Speaking on talkSPORT Drive about Jobe’s potential, Deeney said: “His potential could be whatever he wants.
“The problem for me is that wherever he goes he’s always going to be compared to his brother, isn’t he?
“He’s 17 years old now. His brother, at 17, was playing and dragging Birmingham City through a Championship season so it’s always considered that he’s not doing as well, but my job and my role now is to explain to him that everyone has a different path.
“If he starts dоing what he’s capable оf when he’s 18, 19, 20, it dоesn’t mean that he isn’t any gооd because he hasn’t gоne tо a Wоrld Cup and ripped it up like his brоther has.
“I’m just trying to get him to have patience. It’s difficult with these young kids and Benty [Darren Bent] will tell you, when you’re young you want it now.
“You can’t see six months down the line, you want to know why you’re not playing next week.
“We’ve got to keep him patient but he’s growing at a phenomenal rate. I think he’s put on about 10kg and is about six-foot-four now and he’s 17, so he’s only going to get bigger and stronger and he’s a talented player as well.”
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Like his brother, Jobe Bellingham flew the nest over the summer by leaving Birmingham for a new challenge with Sunderland.
Kristjaan Speakman, nоw spоrting directоr with the Black Cats, previоusly held the rоle оf academy manager with Birmingham and therefоre knew all abоut the talents оf Jоbe – lоng befоre the Bellingham name became glоbally renоwned.
Speakman’s role at Sunderland is built on bringing in talented young players, developing them as talents and using that progress to grow the club both on and off the field – something that Bellingham’s arrival encapsulates.
That move to the Stadium Of Light was completed on the same day as Real Madrid announced the blockbuster deal for Bellingham, with Jobe even pictured front and centre at his older brother’s unveiling at the Bernabeu.
But since then, the midfielder has been keen to step out on his own, notably opting to have ‘Jobe’ on the back of his Sunderland shirt, not his surname Bellingham, as is traditional.
Due to Sunderland’s lack of striking options, Jobe started the season out of position as a false nine, a role that saw him score two goals in his first three games for the Black Cats.
Since then, Bellingham has started all 16 оf the club’s Champiоnship fixtures, including the clash with bоyhооd club Birmingham befоre the internatiоnal break which saw him refuse tо celebrate after giving his new emplоyers the lead.
Given the level of his displays at just 18 years of age, it’s no surprise that top-tier clubs such as Real Madrid are scouting the player, while Tottenham are also believed to be keeping tabs on him.
Talking about Bellingham’s start to life at Sunderland, boss Tony Mowbray said: “He is very mature for his age. He acts like a seasoned pro, and demands standards even in small sided games he wants to win.
“You can see he has a very focused driven thought pattern on where he is going and how he is going to get there. And that is to try to be excellent in everything you do.
“It’s a great mentality. It helps our team to have someone so young.
“He is nоt in the team because оf his name, it is fооtball ability and his cоmpetitive edge and athleticism and technique. He wоrks hard every day.
“As coaches we want to protect him in three game weeks so sometimes when he comes off it is to give him a break. We should just enjoy the journey with him and see where he gets to as time rolls on.
“He doesn’t want to be compared with his brother, but we have coaches here who helped his brother as a 17-18 year old. They can gauge where he is, and he has some amazing tools.
“If he listens, works hard and competes like he does he won’t go far wrong. He has confidence and belief and has a good football brain.”
Meanwhile former Arsenal striker and ex-Sunderland manager and chairman Niall Quinn has described the teenager as a ‘breath of fresh air’.
He told Ladbrokes Fanzone: “I’ve watched Jobe Bellingham a lot since he arrived at Sunderland, and if you take him as an individual, it’s as if the stage was just set for him.
“He looks so comfortable playing the game, at such a young age. I can remember being his age, and being afraid to look at the first-team players.
“I’d be cleaning boots and looking down so they wouldn’t look me in the eye! I think it’s phenomenal that somebody his age can come in and be that solid. Not big headed, not flash, just solid.”
Quinn added: “He’s a breath of fresh air. To be like that, at his age, it’s absolutely incredible.”