Jobe Bellingham looks set to follow in his brother Jude’s footsteps, writes OLIVER KEOHANE.
In the early 1900s the fictional Shelby brothers took over Birmingham, then Britain, with their eyes set on Europe. A century later there are a new set of brothers, not the Peaky Blinders, conquering Birmingham and capturing the eyes of England and Europe.
Jobe Bellingham, debuting at 16 for Birmingham City, is emulating older brother Jude Bellingham who also played his first game for the Blues at 16. Jude made 44 appearances and by the age of 17 had the No 22 jersey retired in his honour as he departed for Borussia Dortmund in a £30-million deal.
Now 18, box-to-box midfielder Jude has been burning through the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund. He has formed a formidable combination with Erling Haaland and by late January helped his side into a second place, just six points behind powerhouse Bayern Munich.
The older Bellingham did enough to earn a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad last year, where his debut against the Republic of Ireland made him the third-youngest player in the country’s history (after Theo Walcott and Wayne Rooney) to play internationally. Later that year, still 17, Bellingham became the youngest English player to feature in a major tournament as he came on in England’s opening match against Croatia during Euro 2020.
There are rumours Jude may return to English shores sooner than expected with Liverpool reportedly interested in his talents. It isn’t certain yet, but what one can be sure of is that younger brother Jobe looks set to follow a very similar path at a very similar pace.
Jobe Bellingham made his debut for Birmingham City 69 days older than Jude but still 16 years old. Manager Lee Bowyer was full of praise, saying, ‘Young Jobe coming on looked so comfortable.’
‘I said to him after the game “You’ve done really well, you’re a 16-year-old lad that dominated the ball, didn’t really give it away, tried to do the right things and when you did give it away you ran back, defended in the box”. He did a lot of good things and I said “I only gave you that opportunity because you’ve earned it”.’
It is still early days for young Jobe and while the natural hype has revolved around the potential of two brothers making waves together in the same team, Dortmund has refused to speculate about the younger Bellingham’s future.
Reports indicate Dortmund have been interested in signing Jobe since meeting him through Jude at the age of 14, but youth co-ordinator Lars Ricken has made it clear that as a 16-year-old, Jobe’s right to anonymity means that there won’t be any talk in the media from the German giants just yet.
Dortmund’s boss Edin Terzic added a bit of clarity, saying, ‘You have to see that it’s the right step at the right time … but we wouldn’t mind having a great tandem in the team.’
The older Bellingham certainly wouldn’t mind and while he has said that playing alongside his brother is a dream of his, he’s also emphasised that the focus right now should be on his development as a person as well as a player. This may well mean a similar sort of apprenticeship to Jude, but who knows where Jobe will be by 17.
England is blessed with midfielders but it would not be a stretch to speculate the appearance of the two brothers in the same England squad could come the 2022-23 season. One would also not be amiss in assuming that Jobe, like Jude, will rise through the ranks very quickly.
The hope, however, is that there is no rush from coaches and fans to force a combination before it is ready. As brilliant as Jude has been early in his career, and as promising as Jobe’s potential is, they have two and four years to go respectively before turning 20.
They can only grow, improve and learn. The fact that at such young ages the two have shown they have what it takes to mix it with the big boys makes the prospects of their futures in football very exciting.
