Jobe Bellingham father, Mark, has reportedly taken further action having been banned from entering Borussia Dortmund’s dressing room.
Jobe, 20, signed for Dortmund from Sunderland in a deal which could be worth over £30m, back in June.
He first appeared at the Club World Cup and wore his first name on his shirt rather than surname ‘Bellingham’ like his brother Jude, who plays for Real Madrid and England, having previously also represented Dortmund.
Since arriving in Germany, the England youth international has endured mixed form and has yet to register a single goal and assist in five Bundesliga appearances.
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His German top-flight debut did not go to plan back in August when he was withdrawn at half-time of Dortmund’s 3-3 draw away at St. Pauli.
Following the match, Sky Germany claimed that Jobe’s parents, Mark, and mother Denise, were not pleased with Nico Kovac’s decision.
The outlet reported that Mark was so annoyed that he addressed sporting director Sebastian Kehl about the treatment of his son.
This caused Dortmund to release an official statement from Kehl during which he acknowledged the disappointment of surrendering a two-goal lead but insisted that the “active area is and remains reserved for players, coaches, and management, not families and advisors”.
Despite the warning towards families, German outlet BILD reports that Mark is still said to be unhappy with his son Jobe’s playing time, something which he has continued to mention to head coach Kovac.
The 20-year-old is struggling to nail down a first-team spot ahead of Felix Nmecha, Marcel Sabitzer and Pascal Groß. Since joining from Sunderland, the Englishman has made just three of a possible eight starts, one of which came in the 4-1 Champions League league phase victory against Athletic Club on Wednesday. Jobe played 69 minutes.
After the match, Kovac offered his thoughts on the midfielder’s performance, homing in on how nervous he was, which showed in his performance.
Kovac told BILD: "Sure, he made one or two bad passes. But the boy is 20, and there's a lot of nervousness. I think he did well; he was agile, counter-pressed, and used his mass to block one or two opponents. I was very pleased with his performance. We don't want to see everything so negatively; on the contrary: I see a lot of positives. But he's 20, and we can still improve a lot."
Dortmund return to Bundesliga action at home against RB Leipzig on Saturday.
Topics: Borussia Dortmund, Bundesliga, Football, Jude Bellingham
Luke Davies