Can Jobe Bellingham become better than England star Jude?

Tom Weber

• Updated: 25 Mar 2024 14:38 CDT
• 4 min read

Jobe Bellingham has the potential to become one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. But can he become better than brother Jude?

The Bellinghams are a ridiculous footballing family. While Jude is starring for Real Madrid at the age of 20, his younger brother Jobe is impressing at Sunderland in the Championship aged just 18.

Jude Bellingham is already one of the world's most expensive footballers. Real Madrid splashed €103 million on him last summer and the England star has since become the most valuable player in the sport, now clocking in at an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €142.1m.

READ MORE: Serie A clubs start transfer MISSION to find 'next Jude Bellingham'

Jobe, meanwhile, has won plaudits with his exploits in the second tier, scoring six goals so far for Sunderland. His performances have earned him links to the likes of Chelsea and Real Madrid and Fabrizio Romano has now confirmed that top clubs are keeping tabs on him.

So, it begs the question: Can Jobe Bellingham become better than Jude?

World-class potential

Jobe and Jude are fairly similar players. After getting pushed further forward by Carlo Ancelotti after his move to Real Madrid, Jude has established himself as one of the world's best attacking midfielders, playing the same position as his brother.

In terms of potential, 18-year-old Jobe can also reach the upper echelons of the game, according to data analytics firm SciSports. The experts believe that Jobe has the ceiling to become one of the world's top ten attacking midfielders, ranking him seventh in that department among U21 players.

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Given that Jobe is still very much at the beginning of his career, whereas Jude has already played at the highest level for several years, the sample size to evaluate the former is much smaller. Therefore, Jobe does not have anywhere close to the same potential as Jude, who sits third among U21 offensive midfielders, only behind Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala.

Jobe's potential is nevertheless quite scary and he could become good enough to be a key player for pretty much every elite side in football, boasting a higher upside than Chelsea talents Cole Palmer and Kendry Paez, for example.

The reason why Jude's potential of a whopping 151.6 is so much higher than Jobe's of 119.2 is the simple fact that the former was already a better player than his brother at his age. When Jude was 18, he was already a regular starter at Borussia Dortmund and playing Champions League football.

Jobe's rise has been much slower, taking the step from Birmingham City to Sunderland last summer when he reportedly previously had the chance to link up with Jude in Germany. In the final analysis, it is unlikely that Jobe will become a better player than Jude, but the teenager can nevertheless become one of the sport's very best.