Jobe Bellingham urged to follow England star’s example over Premier League loan links

Jobe Bellingham has been told not to leave Borussia Dortmund if he wants to be a player in elite-level European football.

That is the view from European football expert, Andy Brassell, amid loan links to Manchester United in the January transfer window.

Getty

Reports claimed that the Red Devils were considering a move for Jobe next month following his early teething issues in Germany.

The 20-year-old followed brother Jude Bellingham in joining BVB this summer after helping Sunderland seal Premier League promotion.

However, since the start of September, Jobe has started just three Bundesliga matches out of a possible 12 and rarely plays 90 minutes.

The midfielder is in the midst of serving a two-game ban following a red card he was shown in a 1-1 draw with Freiburg.

Jobe told to reject loan transfer

While a January loan would help rebuild confidence, Brassell argued that Jobe should follow the Phil Foden template at Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola famously blocked Foden from leaving the Etihad, even temporarily, as a teenager despite struggling for regular first-team minutes behind David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and Ilkay Gundogan.

The Spaniard has now reaped the rewards of the 25-year-old remaining at the club, with Jobe tipped to enjoy similar benefits.

On loan links for the ex-Sunderland star, Brassell told talkSPORT.com: “A lot of that noise has been outside of Germany, it’s fair to say.

“Niko Kovac, the Dortmund coach, has actually handled Jobe Bellingham really, really well.

Getty

Jobe shouldn’t be starting every game

“You almost need someone like Kovac, who cuts through the nonsense and is just clear in his communication. And he’s always been that with Jobe Bellingham,” Brassell continued.

“Of course, we go back to the start of the season, his father Mark coming down to the dressing rooms to have a word with Sebastien Kehl, the sporting director, about Dortmund’s poor performance and apparently about Jobe being taken off at half-time as well.

“But Kovac is the guy to put it into some sort of reasonable perspective, to say, ‘Look, he is someone who is a huge talent, who we’re developing and who is ahead of where we thought he would be so far.’

“He’s been starting a fair few Champions League games as well, so he’s clearly rated.

“It’s kind of unreasonable for people in England to look at this guy who’d never played in the top division before and say he should be starting every Bundesliga game. He shouldn’t.

Following the Foden template

Brassell added: “I don’t think he should be [starting every Bundesliga game]. He’s someone who is learning, learning his role as well.

“The pressure on Jude when he arrived was not insignificant, but it was a lot less than what’s on Jobe, simply because he didn’t have an older brother who’d gone before him and been one of the best players for this club in recent times.

“So they made, I guess, a calculated risk going with Borussia Dortmund and realising that there was going to be that comparison.

“I don’t know if the Bellingham family ever could have realised that it would be this difficult on a media level, certainly in the way the English media look at it.

“And if they’d gone to other clubs instead of Dortmund, I’m sure they’d still be in the same position they are in the game today.

Getty

“For that reason, I think we have to get this right in terms of how they manage him, in terms of how they look after him. I think they’re being quite sensible about it.

“With the sort of football that Kovac wants to play, he needs guys who can run all day. That’s Jobe Bellingham.

“He’s got a huge advantage over [the likes of Emre Can, Pascal Gross, and Marcel Sabitzer] straight away because he’s 10 years younger than them and he can get between boxes.

“In terms of developing him, in terms of finding the right role for him, why would Dortmund give that responsibility over to somewhere else?

“The idea that he has to go somewhere and just play every week, I think that’s quite old-fashioned because I think nearer to what he needs is, I guess he’s a very different player, but the template would maybe be something along the lines of Phil Foden at Manchester City.

“Even if he’s not in the games or not in every game, he’s being indoctrinated in what the club want from him, coached in a way that will be useful to Borussia Dortmund.

“If he wants to be a player in elite-level European football, don’t leave Dortmund. He’s just in the right place at the moment.

“Now, in the medium-term, that’s the right place to make him that elite player. Like I said, there’s still questions over that. But there’s no reason for him to, at this very early stage, take a step back in his career.”

Getty

No one benefits from a loan transfer

Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel admitting his distribution error made him at fault for Jobe’s red card, with Kovac also defending him.

“I think that shows that if you’ve got concerns about Dortmund being the right environment for Jobe Bellingham, that should at least relieve that thought a little bit,” Brassell told talkSPORT.

“You’ve got one of the big guys in the dressing room going, ‘Yes, it’s not Jobe, it’s me.’ I think that’s really important. We’ve already had that sort of protection from Niko Kovac.

“So I think looking at the minutes he’s played is only really a part of it. This is his first season in the top level. It’s a development season.

Getty

“Dortmund are not in the perfect place at the moment, so there will be a few little moments.

“But look, he’s hard-working, he’s committed, he’s trying to find his best spot.

“Bear in mind that Jude Bellingham, who, as I say, in my opinion, is a generational talent, who’s a few levels ahead of his brother and probably always will be, it took him until maybe his third season at Dortmund before he’d found his actual ideal spot exactly where he should be in the midfield.

“There’s no massive rush. I don’t think either the club or the player benefit from him getting loaned out.”