JOBE BELLINGHAM will follow his brother Jude into the England team.
There is no doubt the Real Madrid superstar’s younger sibling will make it to the top of the game.
And it will not be long until we see only the third set of brothers since the Second World War to play together for the Three Lions.
Jobe’s performances this season for Sunderland have been nothing short of scintillating — he is the best young player in the entire EFL.
Bellingham has been key to the Black Cats’ superb start to the season. It’s only because of the phenomenal brilliance of Jude that Jobe has gone under the radar in comparison.
Both players made their senior debut for Birmingham while they were 16.
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Jude went on to establish himself as a first-team regular in his first season, clocking 44 appearances, virtually unprecedented for a 16-year-old.
But Jobe also went on to cement his place in the Brum side last term, his second as a pro, with 23 appearances — pretty good for a 17-year-old.
And it is unbelievable that Birmingham went on to sell him for just £1.5million in the summer to Sunderland.
Already he has gone on to become one of the first names on Tony Mowbray’s team sheet by playing in all 12 of the Black Cats’ games so far.
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Bellingham — barring injuries — should get a full season of Championship games under his belt at the Stadium of Light and he only turned 18 last month.
He is 18 months behind where his brother was — but already Premier League clubs are sending scouts to the north east to check him out.
His performance for the England Under-19s against Montenegro on Thursday was impressive.
He pretty much ran the Young Lions’ midfield during their Euro qualifier in Podgorica, which they won 2-0.
Surely Lee Carsley needs to promote him to the England Under-21 squad because he is far too good for Under-19 level.
That in itself is scary when you think he only made his Under-19 debut last month!
But it should come as no surprise. Although Jobe does not like to be compared to his brother, which is understandable, he is equally as mature beyond his years.
His attitude to training, his confidence around the Sunderland squad and his intelligence, both as a footballer and a person, are said to be second to none.
One Black Cats player told me you would not know he was 18 — just like you would never think Jude is just 20.
Boss Mowbray says he even wants to win every small-sided game at the training ground.
One of the great things about Jobe is his versatility. He has already played a number of roles for Mowbray.
Often he was the team’s most advanced player when they did not have a senior striker early in the season and notched a couple of goals.
But he has now dropped back into a deeper midfield role, where he has been first class.
Jobe is clearly driven like his brother and has a plan to follow him to the top, which is demanding excellence from everything he does.
But he wants to do it at his own pace and in his own way.
And you can see an example of that with the name he wears on the back of his shirt.
Rather than Bellingham, he has Jobe emblazoned across the top of it because he wants his own identity.
He does not want to be known as Bellingham 2.0.
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If Jobe continues on his current trajectory he will be a Premier League player by the age of 20 and surely an England international within a year or two of that.
And in doing so, the Bellinghams could become the 15th set of brothers to play together for England in 151 years — following in the footsteps of the Nevilles and Charltons.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
