As success stories go, Jude Bellingham’s could hardly have been written more perfectly. The midfielder is one of the brightest players in his position in world football, a World Cup goal scorer for England and an icon at his boyhood club - all at the tender age of 19.
Plenty of chapters are still to be written, of course - but back in Birmingham there is another Bellingham ballad waiting to be told, where Jude’s younger brother Jobe is treading the same path.
17-year-old Jobe also rose through the ranks as a midfielder at Birmingham City to become a first-team squad member. Jobe is also a prominent England youth international. Jobe is also being tipped for stardom as a teenager.
But there is undoubtedly a lot of pressure on young shoulders. Jude’s rapid rise for club and country means expectations for the next Bellingham are very high, even though he is barely into his professional career.
Birmingham captain Troy Deeney is certain big things are coming, but knows that Jobe’s development might happen at a different pace to Borussia Dortmund star Jude’s. “There’s a cluster of six or seven (at Birmingham) under the age of 22, Jobe being the youngest - he has just turned 17,” Deeney told Kammy and Ben's Proper Football Podcast on BBC Sounds. “He’s put on 10 kilos this year, he’s going to be an absolute monster just like his brother is.
“He is going to be unbelievably talented, you can’t deny that, but it is just going to take him a year or two longer than his brother. He’s in that shadow isn’t he? Wonderful kid, wonderful family.”
That much is clear to Birmingham manager John Eustace, who has resisted the temptation to throw the more attack-minded Bellingham into the cut and thrust of Championship football every week. Jude had 32 league starts under his belt after his breakthrough season as a record-breaking 16-year-old at St Andrew’s, while Jobe has only four going into Birmingham’s final match of the campaign on Monday.
“There’s a lot of pressure on Jobe because of who his brother is and we have to protect him, and I have to protect him,” former Watford player Eustace told BirminghamLive.
Eustace added: “I think he (Jobe) was 16 in the first half of the season and he’s turned 17. We are talking about very young players. It’s my job to develop them in the right way.
“Throughout the season Jobe has had very good minutes. We’ve put him in, we’ve pulled him out and rested him at times. In the last couple of appearances you can see how he’s grown and developed, and there’s still a hell of a lot more to come from him. We’re going to have a super player on our hands.”
It is clear there is a strong will at Birmingham to shield Bellingham from the pressures that come with being the younger sibling of a generational talent who is wanted by almost every elite club in world football.
Eustace is of the opinion that Jobe has one significant advantage over his brother at his age - he is one of a number of talented youngsters making their way in the game at Birmingham at the same time. Jude was a poster boy on his own but the Blues also have England youngster George Hall making waves this season, as well as Jordan James and Alfie Chang.
“We have to balance where Jobe is with Jordan James, George Hall, Alfie Chang, who all need vital minutes with the first team,” said Eustace, whose side have stayed up comfortably in the Championship despite being pre-season favourites for relegation.
“It’s not like we have just got one or two young players in the group, we have got a lot of young players coming through. It’s vitally important they develop at the right stage and I think Jobe is doing that extremely well.”
Jude was in the stands to watch Jobe’s third consecutive Championship start on Saturday as Birmingham lost 2-0 to Midlands rivals Coventry. It is not the first time the England international has flown back this season to check on Jobe’s progress.
Whether that will continue at Birmingham, however, remains to be seen. While the club have an exemplary record of promoting young players through the ranks - the likes of Nathan Redmond, Demarai Gray and Jack Butland are also examples - transfer interest in Bellingham this summer is inevitable.
Manchester United, Liverpool and Dortmund have all been linked with Bellingham since he made his senior debut in January 2022 - before signing a professional contract six months later. While in recent days there has been speculation he could move to Championship side Sunderland, who employ several former members of Birmingham’s academy setup influential in Jude’s development.
Crucially, the England under-18 starlet remains two years behind his superstar brother in his career and Eustace believes Birmingham's current approach is the best one. “Without a shadow of a doubt they need another year or 18 months of developing and playing Championship football,” he said.
“Maybe when they’re 19, which is still very young, it might be a good time (to move) then. We want to keep as many of the young players at this football club as we can, and build the football club around them. Hopefully they will be here for a lot longer.”
Jude left Birmingham in a £25m move to Dortmund having become the club’s youngest ever player and with his now iconic No.22 shirt retired. Three years on, he is a global superstar and surely destined to become the most expensive English player ever when he switches clubs.
Jobe is not his brother and must forge his own path - but if those who see him in training every day are right, another Bellingham could be bossing the biggest stages of all before long.
