Jobe vs Jude: Comparing the Bellingham brothers as Sunderland star eyes promotion
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Jobe Bellingham has always come across as fiercely ambitious from the moment he joined Sunderland.
After showing promise with Birmingham City, the classy midfielder set his sights on making a big impact at the Stadium of Light and seemed to relish the challenge of taking to life on Wearside. After being one of the bright lights in what was a season hampered by inconsistency from his new side, Bellingham was linked with a number of Premier League clubs during the summer - but penned a contract extension and immediately set his sights on helping Regis Le Bris’ side impress during the current campaign.
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Hide AdSpeaking after putting pen-to-paper, the midfielder said: "I’m buzzing to sign this contract and extend my stay at Sunderland. I feel like I have a lot of unfinished business and I believe we can achieve some great things this season. This is such an amazing city and I’m so proud to represent the people within it. Everyone has made me feel right at home and I couldn’t imagine playing for a Club where it didn’t mean as much as it does to our fans. I enjoy playing for Sunderland and I can’t wait to get back to the Stadium of Light this weekend."
Comparisons with his older brother and current Real Madrid and England star Jude are inevitable - but how does the Black Cats star compare with his older sibling when he was 19?
Impact at Birmingham City
Both Bellingham brothers came through the ranks with the current League One leaders and made an impact upon their introduction at a senior level. Jobe was actually named in a first-team squad for the first time at the age of just 15 days and 321 days as he remained an unused substitute during a Carabao Cup tie against Colchester United. A senior debut followed just under four months later when he came off the bench in a FA Cup third round tie against Plymouth Argyle. That saw Jobe become the second youngest Blues debutant of all-time - just behind his brother Jude!


The current Real Madrid star set that record when he made his senior debut in a Carabao Cup tie with Portsmouth at the age of just 16 years and 38 days. Just weeks later, he became the youngest goalscorer in Blues history when he found the net in a 2-1 home win against Stoke City. Comparing the brothers records during their time at Birmingham falls in the favour of Jude, with his four goals and two assists in 44 senior appearances outdoing Jobe’s no goals or assists in 26 appearances. Jude famously had his shirt number retired when he left St Andrews to join Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund.
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Although he failed to find the net during his time at Birmingham, Jobe did get off the mark at senior level when he scored twice in Sunderland’s 2-1 home win against Rotherham United in August last year in what was only his third league appearance for the club. That kicked off a record of eight goals and two assists in 56 appearances for the Black Cats, with his last goal coming in the recent 2-0 home win against Derby County. Jobe also has two assists for Sunderland during that time.
Jude’s record in front of goal has been well-versed as he continued to shine playing higher up the pitch during his time in the Bundesliga and La Liga. After scoring 24 goals and providing 25 assists in 132 appearances for Borussia Dortmund, he has gone on to average just under a goal every two games in his 50 appearances for Real Madrid - although only his goal contributions during his time at Birmingham and Dortmund if we are comparing Jude to Jobe at the same age.
International records


One aspect when Jobe does begin to match his older brother is at international level as the current Sunderland star has represented England at every level from Under-16 to Under-20 and he found the net at Under-18 level during meetings with their Croatia and Switzerland counterparts last year. Famously, Jude missed out Under-18, Under-19 and Under-20 levels, progressing into the Under-21s before making a senior debut when he earned the first of 36 caps at the age of 17 when he faced the Republic of Ireland at Wembley in November 2020.
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