"Trust me" - Ex-Man Utd figure questions Jobe Bellingham standard as Man Utd eye Sunderland star | OneFootball

Jobe Bellingham continues to be linked with a Premier League move after his exploits with Sunderland

Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown believes that Jobe Bellingham wouldn't be gaining strong interest from Premier League sides if his brother wasn't excelling on the world stage for Real Madrid and England.

Brown dropped this brutally honest claim via Football Insider on Wednesday morning, at a time when the Black Cats midfielder has been strongly linked with the Red Devils, who are enduring a disastrous season in the top flight, despite a mid-season change which saw Ruben Amorim replace Erik ten Hag in the Old Trafford dugout.

The 19-year-old has so often had to deal with comparisons to his brother, Jude, having both come through the ranks at Birmingham City before successfully plying their trade elsewhere.

Jobe made the switch to Sunderland for a reported £3m fee from Blues in the summer of 2023, at a time when his older brother had put pen-to-paper on a six-year deal at the Bernabeu, which could rise as high as £115m if all add-ons are met.

And, although the playmaker continues to excel on the Championship stage for Regis Le Bris' promotion-chasing side, Brown doesn't believe Bellingham is of the standard required to consistently feature in the Premier League at this moment in time.

During a summer of change at the Stadium of Light after a dismal 16th-placed finish for Sunderland last term, Bellingham saw himself linked heavily with Crystal Palace, but opted to extend his stay on Wearside until 2028 despite a high amount of speculation regarding his long-term future.

This season has been a continuation of such transfer rumours, with recent reports stating that United, alongside the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham and Brighton among other clubs, have cast a keen eye on the box-to-box midfielder's development in a season which has yielded seven goal contributions in 34 league appearances thus far.

Football Insider also claimed that the Black Cats could demand a fee north of £20m for one of their prized assets, although he is yet to commit himself to any possible outcome.

Whilst Brown understands the club's stance from a financial point of view, the former United figure believes Bellingham has to have improved from the last time he saw the England Under-21 international in action.

“Well, they would know all there is to know about him – he would’ve had to improve a lot since the last time I saw him, to be at that level,” he said.

“(It) depends whether he’s available, but I can’t see Sunderland falling over backwards to do everybody a favour, and letting them have him for next to nothing.

“What I know about him (from) when I last saw him, I don’t think he’s of that standard yet, but he’s obviously come on a bit," Brown continued.

“If his brother wasn’t his brother, I don’t think there would be that interest in him, trust me, but everybody seems to think ‘well there’s one in the family, there might be two’.”

Jobe Bellingham has to consider long-term future carefully amid Manchester United links

Whilst there is a chance that Bellingham could be a Premier League star next season if Sunderland are to end their eight-year exile via the play-offs, the midfielder must air on the side of caution when considering his next move if the aforementioned scenario does play out.

Of course, the chance to feature for some of the world's biggest footballing institutions is a chance which any player would love to take at such an early stage of their career, but the Sunderland man could also risk becoming stagnant at the same time.

The rebuilding task which Amorim is facing has been laid bare for all to see, and Bellingham is likely to be viewed as a replacement for the likes of Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and fellow prospect, Kobbie Mainoo, who have all been linked with potential departures this summer.

Many who watch the Championship on a regular basis would argue that the 28-time England youth international is worthy of showing his ability in the Premier League, regardless of his brother's exploits in Spain and for the Three Lions.