Why Jobe Bellingham is so much more than Jude’s little brother ...Middle East

The goal was distinctively Bellingham: the late run towards the box, the confident first-time touch, the technically assured strike, the outstretched arms in celebration. The Borussia Dortmund shirt.

Of the seven goals scored during Dortmund’s helter-skelter 4-3 win over South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns in the Club World Cup, it was the fourth that was the most interesting purely because of who got it.

Four days after making his Dortmund debut against Fluminense, Jobe, a £27m signing from Premier League newcomers Sunderland, capped his first start with his first goal to put his new side 3-1 up.

It was a decent way to open the tally. The volleyed finish took an inconsequential nick on its way in, but the best bit was the touch that teed up the strike, a swaggering swivel of the chest that took out the closest defender and created a crucial half-yard and split second to get the shot away.

It was Jude-esque from the Real Madrid star’s kid brother, who has detached himself from the Bellingham name due to its associated pressures, at the start of his career.

Every angle on Jobe Bellingham's first goal for @BVB Watch the @FIFACWC | June 14 – July 13 | Every Game | Free | t.co/i0K4eUtwwb | #FIFACWC #TakeItToTheWorld #MSUBVB pic.twitter.com/EolKZPQE3v

Upon signing for Sunderland in 2023 from Birmingham, Jobe elected to have his first name rather than surname printed on the back of his shirt, a decision he has stuck with at Dortmund.

“I think he’s trying to create his own identity,” Tony Mowbray, Sunderland’s manager at the time, said of Jobe’s decision.

“He doesn’t want to live off the back of his brother’s name. He wants to be the footballer that he is and show people what he can do.”

It is an admirable stance that reveals plenty about Jobe’s mentality and ambition to make his own mark in the sport. Considering Birmingham City retired Jude’s number 22 when he was just 17, it’s easy to see the reasoning behind Jobe’s reservations.

Nevertheless, try as he might, the similarities between the two, separated in age by 27 months, are striking. They each have a stringy build (Jobe is an inch taller at 6ft 2ins), their long limbs cover big distances quickly, and they have the lung power to run, and run, and run.

“He looks like his brother, the movements are exactly the same,” said ex-Italy striker Christian Vieri on DAZN.

They both play in a similar position, albeit Jobe was used in a more defensive role as a box-to-box midfielder at Sunderland than Jude has played in over the last few years.

Jobe registered four goals and three assists in 43 Championship games last season but made more tackles per game (1.8) than he had shots (1.3) or chances created (1.1).

Jude has moved all around Real’s frontline, including playing as a false nine, but it took a while for his goalscoring numbers to spike: he registered double-digits (with 14) for the first time in his third season with Dortmund and fourth of his career.

Next season will be Jobe’s fourth full senior campaign. Could he be about to undergo a similar evolution?

“It’s easy sometimes as a midfielder to just pass the ball then stand still,” said former Chelsea anchorman John Obi Mikel on DAZN.

“He reminds me of a certain player I played with, Frank Lampard. 20-odd goals every season by being there and arriving at the right time. I think he’s going to score a lot of goals for Dortmund.

“What I like about him is he’s very direct. Once he has the ball, he’s looking up, he’s passing forwards, running forwards. He wants to arrive at the box at the right time, and that’s exactly what he did.”

Their career choices have been carefully considered and overseen by the dream team: parents Mark and Denise. Like Jude, Jobe is already on his third club, although his steps have been more incremental, with Dortmund coming third in the sequence, rather than second for Jude.

Dortmund seemed a strange pick for Jobe, given his determination to forge his own path. Jude scored 24 goals in 132 games for BVB, won a German Cup and earned them a £90m profit after three years.

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Eintracht Frankfurt were also in the mix for Jobe’s signature, while staying at Sunderland and becoming the first Bellingham to play Premier League football really would have set him apart from his elder brother.

“I don’t really care how it looks, but it might look a bit contradictory to some people,” he acknowledged this week.

“I was perhaps being biased against Dortmund for a very long time, because I have anxieties and fears, and you want to be your own man, but I don’t think I should let those stop me from making the right decision.

“So for me, it was about choosing the right path, not necessarily a different one. I don’t think my path has been the same as Jude’s at all. But, it meant if the right path meant signing for Borussia Dortmund, as so many top young players, not just me and my brother, then why would I not do it?

“It would be a big mistake to sign for another club just because Jude’s played here and it didn’t go well.”

The shirt name change and the move to Sunderland were decisions made in part to alleviate some of the pressure on young Jobe’s shoulders. That will ramp up now that he is following in Jude’s footsteps in front of the Yellow Wall on Champions League nights. Can he handle the heat? So far, so good.

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