The parents of Sunderland midfielder Jobe Bellingham have given an insight into how eager they were for the teenager to complete a move to Wearside so that he could step out from the shadow of his elder sibling, Jude, and begin to make his own mark on the professional game.
Last summer, the Black Cats completed a deal to prise the starlet away from boyhood club Birmingham City, and he has established himself as a key figure at the Stadium of Light in the time since. Earlier in the year, he put pen to paper on a contract extension that is set to keep him at the club until 2028.
And now, in a documentary published to his brother’s YouTube channel, his parents have offered an insight into the thinking behind his switch to the North East. While flying from Madrid – where Jude plays his football – to Sunderland on the day that Jobe signed for the Black Cats, his father Mark said: “Yesterday was nice, now it feels like I want Jobe to have his day. Finally for someone to say, ‘He’s not Jude’s brother’. We’ve got the Sunderland fans – no connection to Jude now – who can just say, ‘That’s Jobe, he’s ours’.”
Jobe’s mother Denise added: “I just want to see Jobe on the pitch, in a Jobe shirt – not a Bellingham shirt – starting and having his moment. I want him to start and have his moment.” Given the relative youthfulness of both brothers, the Bellingham’s have settled upon an arrangement whereby Jude and their mother live in the Spanish capital, while Jobe and their father spend their time on Wearside.
Addressing the unorthodox set-up during his documentary, Jude said: “When Jobe signed for Sunderland, I got to be there with him. It was one of those where I was kind of just as proud of him being at mine. It’s difficult not being together all the time, now that dad lives with Jobe and mum lives with me. It’s just tough, isn’t it? My mum’s kind of the backbone. She’s the one who gives me that support I need as a son, like emotionally and mentally. Obviously, my dad was the exact same when I lived with him and still is, but from afar. And he does that job now for Jobe.”
Jobe added: “You can’t put your finger on one emotion. It’s just a range, isn’t it, really? You just miss your mum. I think every time I’m with my brother, I’m just laughing. We’re just constantly making jokes. We barely really talk about football.”
