And Bardsley has praised the teenage talent for carving his own path to stardom with huge pressure on his shoulders to follow in the footsteps of his superstar brother Jude.
“He (Jobe) just oozes class, like his brother,” said Bardsley, speaking exclusively to SportsBoom.
“They’ve got the same sort of attributes.
“He’s athletic and he’s brave, for such a young player he’s got it all. And he’s a got decent presence around him.”
“But, at the end of the day, he’s making his own strides. He’s certainly got the world at his feet.”
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Ex-Black Cats defender Bardsley watched with delight as 19-year-old Bellingham starred as the Black Cats won promotion back to the Premier League.
And although he would love to have seen the highly-rated midfielder strut his stuff for the Wearside outfit next season back in the top flight, Bardsley is excited to see just how good the young gun can become.
Bellingham followed in his Jude’s footsteps by signing for Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund in a big money deal last week.
He penned a five-year deal worth £27.8million plus £4.2million in add-ons, north of the £25million initial fee which sibling Jude signed when he joined the German side in July 2020.
“It’s not going to be easy being the brother of a superstar, you could easily take your eye off the ball and think that you’ve cracked it,” stressed Bardsley, who enjoyed seven seasons in the Premier League at the Stadium of Light between 2007-2014.
“You obviously get chances other people might not get, but he’s stood on his own two feet hasn’t he – and he’ s done brilliantly.”
“He’s gone to a club like Sunderland and they were the perfect fit for him at the time.”
“And I think he’s delivered and the fans adored him.”
“Look, I didn’t watch him week-in, week-out, but he looked like he played a bit deeper in some games, which suited him. His defensive qualities were there for all to see.”
“We often talk a lot about set-pieces, attacking and defending, but defensively he’s been phenomenal defending set-pieces, as well as the attacking side of the game.”
Meanwhile, Sunderland have confirmed that Chris Rigg has withdrawn from England’s squad for the Under-19 European Championships.
The Black Cats said in a statement: “The 17-year-old midfielder was named in the Young Lions’ final selection for the tournament, but he will now miss the competition due to injury.
“An update will be provided in due course.”
While the withdrawal will undoubtedly frustrate Rigg, it might benefit Sunderland in the long run. The youngster featured in 42 of Sunderland’s 46 Championship games last season, starting 36. He’ll now focus on recovery before Sunderland’s players return for the start of pre-season.
