Jude Bellingham - Ancelotti's Humorous Regret

Jude Bellingham has made quite the impact since moving to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2023. The England midfielder hit the ground running in Spain by scoring five goals in his first four league matches. In this debut season, he won the Champions League and LaLiga, scoring 23 times in 42 appearances in all competitions.

Bellingham also netted late winning goals in both Clásicos against arch rivals Barcelona. Yet Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti says he should have signed Bellingham’s brother Jobe, who plays for English Championship team Sunderland, instead. In a clip from his recently set up YouTube channel, Bellingham Sr revealed the details of a humorous exchange he had with the Italian manager. “I still remember when my brother Jobe scored twice [against Rotherham], we were watching the game and Ancelotti said: ‘F***… we bought the wrong one! I’m going to bring him here’. I said: ‘Where are you going to play him?’. Carlo said: ‘In your position!’

18-year-old Jobe Bellingham is two years and three months younger than his big brother. Like Jude, he made his initial breakthrough with Birmingham City, playing 26 games (no goals) for them between January 2022 and May 2023 (the Real Madrid star, meanwhile, netted four times in 44 appearances for The Blues in the 2019/20 season).

The younger Bellingham, who can play both in midfield and as a forward, signed for Sunderland for just €1.75 million ($1.94 million) in the same summer as his elder sibling joined Real Madrid for €103 million ($114.2 million). Since moving to The Black Cats, Jobe has played 51 games, scoring seven goals, all of which have come in the league. Bellingham started all but three of Sunderland’s 46 Championship fixtures last season and hasn’t missed a minute of action this time around.

And Jobe Bellingham has been spotted watching Jude play at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on several occasions, along with other family members, and was involved in the on-field celebrations as Los Blancos celebrated winning the Champions League in June. Could we ever see the English duo line up together for Real Madrid? Ancelotti is watching.