Jobe Bellingham has been told he is one of three young players who will be the future of the Borussia Dortmund team.
The 20-year-old was at home for his side’s Champions League defeat to Tottenham and arrived under very different circumstances to his last such visit.
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In November, Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham’s younger brother played just 23 minutes in the 4-1 defeat to Manchester City.
He had yet to play a full game for Dortmund and his manager Niko Kovac claimed the teenager was “not doing himself any favours”.
This also included battles off the pitch, with Jobe’s father Mark having a heated discussion with BVB sporting director Sebastien Kehl over a 3-3 draw against St Pauli on the opening day of the season.
The former Sunderland star capped a tough end to 2025 by being sent off in the 1-1 draw with Freiburg and being linked with a loan move.
However, Dortmund underlined their faith in Jobe by selling Pascal Gross to Brighton and refusing to seek a replacement this month.
The England U21 international responded by playing the entire game as Kovac’s men beat St Pauli 3-2 on Saturday after being tied up at half-time in the second leg.
“Kovac has always shown confidence in him,” European football expert Andy Brassell told The Pitch Prospect.com.
“If you look at Niko Kovac and what he expects from the players, Pascal Gross is not his thing and Jobe is more his thing.”
“Someone who is young and athletic, if they have already run more than a reasonable amount and they are asked to run more, they will do it.”
The best example of this was Jobe’s return from suspension in the 3-0 win over Werder Bremen, in which he assisted Serhou Guirassy for his first Bundesliga goal since October.
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Brassell added: “It’s Jobe Bellingham who puts the pressure on, robbing one of his defenders and setting up the goal for Serhou Guirassy to finally break the Bundesliga goal drought.”
“I looked at it and thought: That’s exactly the reason why they’re betting on him and that’s exactly the direction this Dortmund player is going.”
While Jobe prepared Guirassy, the man who replaced him in attack could be another key figure in Dortmund’s future.
Fabio Silva was hailed as a “generational talent” when he joined Wolves as an 18-year-old in 2020 for a then club-record fee of £35 million.
The now 23-year-old Portuguese scored just four Premier League goals in his five years at Molineux, all of which came in his debut season.
Silva was loaned out to Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers and Las Palmas and found a permanent home in Dortmund in August.
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Fabio Silva statistics at Borussia Dortmund
The former Porto star has not yet opened his Bundesliga account but has recorded four assists – one less than club leader Julian Ryerson.
Silva has now also created 11 chances in his 303 minutes in the top flight, the same number as Guirassy, who played 1299 minutes.
Brassell added: “He’s very good, even when he doesn’t score he does incredible running and set up Karim Adeyemi at the weekend.”
“I think the fact that Guirassy is an incredible penalty area player, but at this point I feel like Silva gives you more in the game in general.”
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“Kovac is a guy who doesn’t care how much players cost.
“He will pick the team that he believes will win the game and the guys that he believes will perform the most for him.”
“And believe me, the type of football he wants to play, Jobe Bellingham will play a lot. Fabio Silva will play a lot too.”
“These old boys are gradually being pushed out… so in a year, even if it’s not this season, this team will belong to Fabio Silva and Jobe Bellingham.”
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“There is absolutely no doubt about that in my mind.
“They hope it will be a team that also owns Nico Schlotterbeck, although whether they will commit him to stay is another question.”
“But they are definitely moving in a certain direction, and that is away from the older ones.”