Sunderland AFC: Where Jobe Bellingham ranks in the world's most valuable central midfielders list | OneFootball

FLW have looked at Bellingham's market value compared to some of the best in his position

Jobe Bellingham has emerged as one of Sunderland's key players in their promotion push this season, and has thus been compared to some of the world's best midfielders as he takes the first steps on his journey to the top of the game.

Bellingham joined the Black Cats in 2023 from boyhood club Birmingham City, and he plays well beyond his years at 19-years-old with a hugely important role in their surprise challenge for the automatic promotion places in the Championship this term.

He is touted to follow in the footsteps of his brother, Jude, in becoming a top talent at the highest level at some point in his career, but for now it is Sunderland that get to benefit from his outstanding midfield ability until at least the end of this season.

The Stourbridge-born teen's star turns have seen him linked with a transfer to numerous top clubs for a sizeable fee over the last 12 months, but the Black Cats have been understandably reluctant to part with his services anytime soon.

Jobe Bellingham's current transfer value compared to the world's top midfielders

Bellingham's transfer value has understandably skyrocketed over the last year or so, given his impressive form and how he has proven himself as a top player in the Championship, and according to transfermarkt, it is currently set at around €18.00 million, or around £15m.

When that is compared to some of the world's top central midfielders, however, he is still relatively low on the list of value, with Real Madrid star Federico Valverde the current most valuable at €130m, while Arsenal enforcer Declan Rice and Barcelona talent Pedri make up the top three on transfermarkt's list at €110m and €100m respectively.

In terms of general midfield players, he finds himself even lower down the order, with older brother Jude sitting as transfermarkt's most valuable midfielder right now, at €180m, while Bayer Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz and his German national-team teammate Jamal Musiala are joint-second highest at €140m.

Jobe is still in the very early stages of his career, and is undoubtedly on the path to getting near to the top of the list in the years to come. As it stands, according to transfermarkt, his €18m valuation makes him the 185th most valuable midfielder in world football, which is very impressive for a Championship player.

How Jobe Bellingham's value has increased over the years using transfermarkt

Bellingham's transfer value, as per transfermarkt, has never been higher in his career so far than right now, which is no shock given his, and Sunderland's, form over the last few months.

His first valuation was set at £500,000 in November 2021, when he was still just 16-years-old and had not long broken into Birmingham City's senior squad, while the second time his value was updated just under a year later in October 2022, it jumped up to €3m after he had signed a professional contract that July.

He joined Sunderland in 2023, by which point his transfer value had risen even further to €5m, and it has only kept increasing further, firstly to €6m in October 2023, then €9m in that December as he became a key man at the Stadium of Light.

The 19-year-old finished last season with seven goals and one assist in 45 Championship games, and saw his stock continue to rise as transfermarkt pushed his value up to €12m, while this campaign has seen the biggest jump so far, up to the current fee of €18m, or £15m.

Bellingham is undoubtedly only going to become more and more valuable as time passes, and Sunderland will likely demand even more than such a fee if he is to be prised from Wearside this summer.