21 Under 21: Jobe Bellingham (Sunderland)

Episode #1 | George Elek and Ali Maxwell list the most outstanding young players in the EFL.

21 Under 21 will be released every weekday at noon in June, with paid subscribers unlocking early access to all video content.

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“It’s pretty rare for someone younger than 18 years old to establish themselves as a serious starter for a Championship club” — Ali Maxwell

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Jobe Bellingham

Sunderland — Championship, 2023/24:

Born: 23 September 2005

Position: Central midfielder / Attacking midfielder / Centre-forward

League appearances: 45

League starts: 43

🚨 He does it all…

You’ve probably heard of the American TV show How I Met Your Mother, but have you heard of the spin-off, Have I Mentioned Your Brother?

There’s no getting away from it: Jobe Bellingham’s older brother is one of the best players in world football. Is Jobe fortunate or unfortunate that this is the case? You be the judge.

It’s almost unheard of for a 17- or 18-year-old to play a full season of Championship football. It’s even rarer for one to play a significant number of minutes, as a central midfielder, an attacking midfielder and a centre-forward. Throw in seven goals (including one against his former club, Birmingham) and plenty of eye-catching performances and you have Jobe Bellingham’s debut season at Sunderland — he does it all.

Can he be inconsistent? Yes. Is he the finished article? No. But isn’t that the case with 99% of 18-year-olds playing at a high level? We should enjoy Jobe for who he is, and not worry about who he isn’t.

It certainly doesn’t seem to be putting off the circling clutch of top-flight clubs…

📈 At a glance

Pizza charts informed by match data. Each chart rates a chosen player from 0-99 across different metrics (e.g. Dribbles) according to their “percentile rank”. A 75 score shows a player outperforming 75% of other players in the dataset. Each dataset is position-specific. Negative metrics are reversed. [Credit: Riley Roberts.]

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▶️ Watch: Episode 1