When Jobe Bellingham made his Borussia Dortmund debut on Tuesday, he did not wear his surname on his shirt – but there’s an explanation.
Jobe, 19, signed a five-year deal at Borussia Dortmund last week and did not have to wait long to make his debut for the Bundesliga side.
On Tuesday (June 17), the teenager made his first appearance for the club during their 0-0 draw against Fluminense in the Club World Cup.
And fans noticed that he was not wearing his ‘Bellingham’ family name on the back of his shirt.
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But there’s an explanation.
Back in November 2024, former Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray explained how the youngster did not want to "live off the back of his brother's name".
“I think he’s trying to create his own identity,” Tony Mowbray said.
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“He doesn’t want to live off the back of his brother’s name; he wants to be the footballer that he is and show people what he can do.”
Of course, Jobe’s older brother Jude still wears ‘Bellingham’ on the back of his Real Madrid and England shirts.
Even in his unveiling video for Dortmund, Jobe explained: "I'm not following in anyone's footsteps.”
And the 19-year-old is not the only player who chooses to wear their first name on the back of their shirt.
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Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk also simply wears ‘Virgil’ on the back of his shirts, while Dele Alli just wears ‘Dele’ on his match jerseys.
And recently, Real Madrid right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold held a shirt with ‘Trent’ on when he was unveiled as a Los Blancos player.
"Quite an easy explanation for that, to be honest," Trent said in a press conference.
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"I’ve always found that when I travel to Europe the whole name situation confuses a lot of people, with there being three names and the double-barrel, Alexander-Arnold.
"People call me Arnold, people call me Alexander, people call me Alex, people call me Trent, there’s a lot that goes on. So I thought, let’s make it simple, let’s make it easy.
"Trent on the back, be known as Trent, that’s my name, so that’s what I guess people will call me."
Topics: Borussia Dortmund, Football, Bundesliga, Jude Bellingham, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Luke Davies