Sunderland: New Jobe Bellingham transfer update must not sway him - View | OneFootball

Sunderland midfielder Jobe Bellingham will be delighted with the amount of game time he has managed to get under his belt this season.

Making a real breakthrough at Birmingham City last season, he will have been pleased with his work at St Andrew's last term, though he wasn't one of the first names on the teamsheet in the Midlands.

However, he has been a regular starter at the Stadium of Light following his summer switch to Wearside, with the England youth international making a strong start to life at his current club.

Bellingham was one of several young players to arrive at the club during the summer, but he has managed to do much better than some others who came in during that window.

His goals and assists record may not be spectacular this term, but he has seemingly done enough to attract interest from a number of European giants.

Jobe's older brother Jude has stolen the headlines in recent years, and it will be difficult for the former to follow in the latter's footsteps, but the younger sibling has impressed at a senior level, adding to his résumé with a stunning solo goal off the bench against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

Four teams have been linked with a move for Bellingham in a Sunderland Nation report.

Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur's interest has been reported before, and the outlet believes both teams currently hold a strong interest in the player at this stage.

But a move didn't materialise for the teenager in January, even with the duo's interest in him.

Italian side Lazio, meanwhile, are thought to have made an enquiry for the England youth international during the previous window, whilst Real Madrid are keen to reunite the Bellingham brothers in Spain.

Jobe Bellingham must stay at Sunderland for now

Sunderland Nation believes the midfielder is keen to play regularly.

That could potentially scupper a move to one of the four interested teams above, with the player unlikely to start regularly in the short term if he makes a move to any of these teams.

Older brother Jude may have become an important first-teamer at Borussia Dortmund and Madrid straight away - but Jobe is at an earlier stage of his development and hasn't done enough in the Championship just yet to warrant regular starts for an elite European top-tier team.

If his stance prevents a move to one of these sides in the summer, so be it.

Bellingham needs to be playing regularly if he wants to continue to develop and with the player not exactly standing out in recent games, it's clear he needs to spend much more time at the Stadium of Light before potentially moving on.

At the moment, he should be looking to resist a summer move away and even if he's going to be offered some minutes on the pitch by an interested team, the midfielder needs to start regularly.

The 18-year-old isn't even guaranteed those starts on Wearside, but his current club have placed a lot of faith in him.

And it would benefit him to repay that faith by ignoring speculation and focusing on what's happening on the pitch, something that can only benefit the club, as well as the Black Cats.