The 19-year-old is on the cusp of stepping out of his older sibling's shadow after helping the Black Cats reach the Championship play-off final

Jude Bellingham is recognised as one of the finest players English football has ever produced. At the tender age of 17, he made the brave move to head abroad and join Borussia Dortmund – just one year after his historic breakthrough at Birmingham City – and went on to become a household name at Signal Iduna Park alongside the likes of Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho.

Then, in the summer of 2023, Real Madrid came calling. The most successful club in world football decided to invest €103 million (£89m/$112m) in Bellingham's talent, and he's managed to repay that in just two full seasons, helping to deliver more La Liga and Champions League success at Santiago Bernabeu while racking up 64 goal contributions.

As if all that wasn't enough, the 21-year-old has also won 42 caps for his country, including one for his appearance in the Euro 2024 final. How on is Jobe Bellingham supposed to compete with that?!

In stark contrast, Jude's younger brother is already 19, and has yet to experience top-flight football. The Sunderland star, who is also a Birmingham academy product, has had to deal with constant comparisons to his sibling that, quite frankly, he can never live up to.

Jobe is, however, about to become a star in his own right. He is destined for the big time next season after playing a key role in Sunderland's bid for a long-awaited return to the Premier League, with a host of top clubs, including Dortmund, reportedly lining up summer bids. But is the teenager truly ready to make that leap?

Getty Images'Interesting character'

Jobe became the second-youngest player in Birmingham's history, behind Jude, when Lee Boywer handed the youngster his debut for the club at 16 years and 107 days old in a 2021 FA Cup tie against Plymouth Argyle. "The potential was there. The attitude was there," former Blues boss Bowyer recently told . "He’s a nice, well-mannered boy but demanding on the pitch; he didn’t shy away from anything. He has confidence but not arrogance. He has always been technically very good."

Bowyer was sacked at the end of that season, but Bellingham went from strength to strength under his successor John Eustace, despite Birmingham's continued struggles for consistency in the Championship. The midfielder impressed across 22 appearances as the Blues beat the drop again in 2022-23, attracting the attention of Sunderland in the process.

Bellingham moved to the Stadium of Light on a four-year contract for a reported £2m fee, on the same day his older brother signed for Madrid. He was then thrown straight in at the deep end during Sunderland's pre-season campaign under Tony Mowbray, and made an instant impression on the manager.

"Jobe is an interesting character, he's very driven," Mowbray said. "Even in the dressing room after the game he's saying 'I need to be better at this, I need to do this better.' He's demanding on himself and as such a young boy he just has to filter into our football club and find his way."

AdvertisementGettyClass shines through

Bellingham certainly found his way in the 2023-24 campaign, after deciding to use his given name on the back of his shirt instead of the family one, which Mowbray saw as an attempt to "create his own identity". After starting the first two games of the season against Ipswich and Preston, which both ended in defeat, Bellingham fired Sunderland to a 2-1 home win against Rotherham with a sublime two-goal showing.

Mowbray was delighted to see Bellingham open his professional scoring account, but described the teenager's willingness to learn as his "greatest asset" after the game. "He's always asking questions every day, asking us coaches about where we want him and why and what he should be doing," the Sunderland boss added. "He's just a joy to work with."

Nailing down Bellingham's best role proved difficult, though. He was deployed in a variety of different positions in his maiden year on Wearside, from a false nine and No.10 to a left winger and deep-lying midfielder, with chaos on the touchline doing little to aid his development. Sunderland dismissed Mowbray in December 2023, and his replacement, Michael Beale, only lasted 12 games at the helm as the Black Cats fell off the promotion trail.

Assistant coach Mike Dodds was entrusted to lead the team through to the end of the season, and although he couldn't prevent Sunderland from falling to 16th in the table, he did his best to give Bellingham some stability, and oversaw his most influential display yet in a 2-0 victory at Cardiff City. Bellingham won a first-half penalty and produced a poacher's finish for the all-important second goal, prompting emphatic praise from Dodds.

"We should be excited about his performance, it's something we can build on moving forward," he said. "He’s a coach’s dream, if I said go and play in goal he would just crack on with it. What he has got, which many number nines don’t have in this league, is unbelievable quality with his feet."

Hitting the next level

Bellingham reached the next level in his fledgling career after Sunderland appointed Regis Le Bris as their new permanent manager. Le Bris built a strong reputation for his work with young players in his previous role at Lorient, most notably bringing through French wonderkid Eli Junior Kroupi, and quickly set about unlocking Bellingham's potential upon his arrival in England.

Le Bris has primarily used Bellingham as a No.8 or No.6, generally resisting the urge to include him in Sunderland's forward line. The change reaped instant rewards as the Black Cats opened their latest campaign with six wins out of eight, including a 2-0 triumph against Derby County on October 1 that took them to the top of the Championship table.

It was Bellingham who put his team ahead that day with an unstoppable strike from 25 yards out, which former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor described as an "absolute beauty" while on commentary duty for . "My all-round game has definitely improved from last year and the one part that was missing, which was one of my best parts from last year, was arriving in the box," Bellingham said after the final whistle. "That’s something that I want to keep doing."

Bellingham also scored in wins over Oxford, Swansea and Norwich before the turn of the year, leaving Le Bris in no doubt about his importance to the team. "Jobe is so powerful," said the French tactician. "He wants to affect the game and he has the good quality to do it, so it’s not a big surprise for us."

Getty Images'Chief disruptor'

Bellingham entered 2025 as one of Sunderland's leading men and a new England Under-21 international, having been handed his first call-up in November. The goals have dried up in the second half of the season for the 19-year-old, but his relentless energy and technical prowess were vital as Le Bris' side secured a place in the top four, and he has emulated his older sibling by scooping the Championship's Young Player of the Year award.

The Black Cats were pitted against Coventry in the play-off semi-finals, before which Bellingham was also singled out for special praise by Chelsea legend Frank Lampard. "I like Jobe a lot," said the Coventry boss. "I like his profile and I like his size, his qualities and his work ethic. I like him, I think he’s really good."

Bellingham showed those "qualities" again as Sunderland beat Coventry 2-1 in the first leg away from home, and produced a perfectly-timed tackle to deny Haji Wright an equaliser right at the death. The Sky Blues won the second leg 1-0 to force extra-time, but Dan Ballard scored a 122nd-minute header to book Sunderland's spot in the Wembley showpiece, and Bellingham was described as their "chief disruptor" after another all-action performance that saw him cover every blade of grass.

Sunderland are now just one game away from a return to the Premier League after an eight-year absence, with Sheffield United standing in their way in the play-off final. It will be another huge moment for Bellingham, but not necessarily a decisive one, because he is likely to be playing top flight football in 2025-26 even if Sunderland come up short.