While still yet to replicate the incredible standards set by his older brother Jude, 19-year-old Sunderland attacker Jobe Bellingham is still making headlines and impressing a plethora of top clubs.
Jobe has been in fine form this season, notching four goals and three assists in 26 appearances for the Black Cats, as Regis Le Bris' team have kept pace with table-toppers Leeds United, currently sitting only four points adrift of Daniel Farke's side.
Having joined Sunderland from boyhood club Birmingham City for a fee of around £1 million, he has since made 73 appearances for the club across a season-and-a-half, scoring 11 times in all competitions, and chipping in with a further four assists. It is sometimes hard to believe that the player has 99 professional appearances at the tender age of just 19.
Thus, it is obvious why clubs are beginning to sniff around ask questions of Sunderland's persistence to keep the player on Wearside. At present, Crystal Palace are seen as the most likely team to take Jobe away from Le Bris' promotion-chasers.
Current favourites
Crystal Palace – 2/1
Bookies favourite Crystal Palace are priced at 2/1 to sign Jobe before the end of the January transfer window. Having put their early-season woes behind them, Oliver Glasner's side have now stretched the gap to the relegation zone to 10 points, but a weekend loss at home to Brentford showed that there are still areas to improve for the Eagles.
Palace currently rank 16th in the division for accurate passes per match, averaging 243 fewer passes per match than Manchester City, for example. They also really struggle to generate touches in the opposition box, ranking 15th for that statistic.
This all suggests that the Eagles could do with improving their linkup play, something which would align perfectly with the role in which Jobe has been deployed at Sunderland.
Operating in the number 10 role, the Englishman retains a pass accuracy of 85.4%, while also completing 0.94 dribbles per 90 minutes and creating 1.36 chances per game. Essentially, Jobe effortlessly links the attack and defence, retaining possession, beating his man and getting balls into the box. With summer signing Daichi Kamada having failed to impress in this department, a move for Jobe could certainly make sense for Palace.
Priced at 2/1, bookies are fairly convinced that a Premier League move is on the horizon for the 19-year-old, meaning he would not be following in his brother's footsteps. To get the best value, punters should try to bet on Palace before a formal bid is made by the club.
Arsenal – 8/1
Title-chasing Arsenal have been touted as interested in Jobe's signature this January, but we feel that this is an unlikely transfer. Manager Mikel Arteta has not been known for investing in too many young players, preferring to delve into the club's academy to develop starlets such as Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Further to this, the Gunners' captain, Martin Odegaard, also operates from the number 10 position and is comfortably one of the league's strongest creative players. Thus, game time would be hard to come by if Jobe were to move to the Emirates. At 19 years of age, this would be a critical roadblock to the player's development.
While an offer from a top club would be hard to turn down, neither Jobe nor Arsenal's intentions seem to click regarding a potential coup for the Englishman. 8/1 odds could provide a good return, but the likelihood of this transfer coming off seems far too low.
Any German club – 12/1
However, a rumour which does hold some value is that of a move to the Bundesliga. Rumours began to fly today surrounding potential interest from Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund, with the latter being the club at which Jobe's brother Jude truly proved that he was a world-class talent.
Dortmund sit 11th in the Bundesliga, having also won one of their last six games in all competitions. Their first game since Nuri Sahin's sacking ended in a 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen.
The club could evidently deploy Jobe effectively, and with their proven track record of developing young English talent, a switch could prove very tempting for the Sunderland man.
At 12/1 and with interest mounting, bettors should seriously think about putting money behind a second Bellingham making a move to the Bundesliga.
Lifelong Ipswich Town supporter who recently graduated from Durham University in French and German. Have developed a passion for European football based on my links abroad and am an avid supporter of Werder Bremen and Auxerre. Joined the MFT team in October 2024 and looking to take my first steps into the world of football journalism.
