Sunderland have been told they have one of the Championship’s best young prospects in their senior team.
Sunderland have been known for their serious investment into youth players in recent years, having brought the likes of Dennis Cirkin, Dan Ballard and Jack Clarke down from the Premier League.
Their strategy is to transform these players into stars that can return to the top flight and make their mark, before moving them on for profit and starting the whole process again.
While it is currently Clarke who looks set to make Sunderland a hefty fee this summer, there are still plenty of players that could earn them eight-figure sums in the near future.
One man who has been predicted to make waves across Europe in the coming years is Jobe Bellingham, who joined Sunderland from Birmingham City last summer.
The 18-year-old has since scored six goals and made 35 starts in the Championship, as well as earning interest from the likes of Lazio and Real Madrid.
Despite criticism regarding his regular position in the team recently, journalist Justin Peach still believes Jobe is one of the Championship’s most exciting youngsters.
When discussing the three best young prospects in the Championship, Peach told The Second Tier podcast: “Jobe Bellingham – The man speaks for himself.
“Don’t really need to dwell too much on him, he’s been superb for Sunderland. He’s gone through the motions a bit, he’s only 18 years old, it’s going to happen. But he’s really taken that first-choice slot with both hands, he’s been brilliant.”
Has Jobe Bellingham deserved such praise this season?
Jobe Bellingham is currently our second top scorer with six goals, and don’t get me wrong, he is been pretty impressive in front of goal at times this term. However, that doesn’t tell the whole story of his debut campaign at the Stadium of Light.
The midfielder has been dispossessed more than any other Sunderland player this season (54), and if you told any supporter that then they wouldn’t even be remotely surprised.
Jobe moves around the pitch so slowly and seems to take ages to make the most simple of decisions.
He can pull off some excellent efforts and can occasionally creep out of the tightest of spaces, but most of the time you can guarantee he will lose the ball in the middle of the pitch when he had hours to make such an easy pass.
He is only 18 and he may just be struggling for confidence, but while it is clear he does have a lot of potential, hyping him up to the point where he is labelled one of the Championship’s best prospects seems a little far-fetched.
No doubt if Chris Rigg’s older brother played for Real Madrid then they would say the same about him, because he is arguably much more exciting than his teammate.
Jobe could really do with a run out of the team and I think that would have really helped him if that had happened earlier in the season, but now we will just have to hope he can kickstart the next campaign with plenty more confidence and a much better manager to help him develop.