Exclusive: David Prutton predicts "hefty fee" if Chelsea swoop for Sunderland AFC transfer | OneFootball

The Black Cats star is already attracting interest from the Premier League

Jobe Bellingham has made waves at Sunderland over the past two seasons.

Having been a key part of the Black Cats’ battle towards the top of the Championship table, the midfielder has understandably attracted interest from top clubs over the course of the season.

The latest to step up that interest is Chelsea, who have recently been revealed as one of the front-runners by a Football Insider report.

We asked pundit and former midfielder David Prutton for his views on the potential of the younger Bellingham brother moving to Stamford Bridge.

David Prutton backs Jobe Bellingham for Premier League football

Prutton, during his playing career, made the jump from the second tier into the Premier League when he transferred from Nottingham Forest to Southampton in the early 2000s, so he has experience of the step Bellingham may be about to take.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Prutton said: “Speaking of players attracting interest from bigger clubs, Jobe Bellingham, I think has been wonderful this season for Sunderland.

“A big part of their promotion push and, as ever, the stereotype, the cliché, the reinforced opinion about this young side and how well they've done. He's very much a part of that, still not 20 years old yet.

“It's uncanny to watch him at times, given the way that he moves his body, given his facial expressions.

“And I know that it’s something that he doesn't necessarily want to emphasise or buy into. He wants to very much do it off his own back, which is absolutely correct, given how stratospherically famous his brother is.

“But the fact that he's got Jobe on the back doesn't mean that he doesn't enjoy the Bellingham surname. He's very much a family man, you can see the love that he's got for his brother, and also his mum and dad, who look after both boys very, very well indeed.

“But he wants to make it on his own merits and a chance to go and play at a team at Chelsea would be a huge draw. But as you quite rightly do think about a move such as this is about how much game time is going to have.

“But, you only know how good he is and what level he can achieve when he gets thrown in there, and I'm sure a hefty fee will be placed on him by Sunderland, quite rightly, because of the development that's gone into the player.

“At some stage, whether it be with Sunderland or another club, you absolutely get the feeling that this is a Premier League footballer.”

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall provides cautionary tale for Jobe Bellingham

Less than a year ago, former Leicester City man Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was arguably in a stronger position than Bellingham is now.

Battling for the Championship title with the Foxes, he notched 12 goals and 14 assists on the club’s route to silverware and ran Leeds United’s Crysencio Summerville close to the Championship Player of the Season award.

Chelsea splashed a not-inconsiderable £30 million to bring Dewsbury-Hall to Stamford Bridge.

The midfielder even had the added safety net of following the manager that had led him to the second-tier title, Enzo Maresca, to his new club.

Despite all that, with just weeks left of the season, Dewsbury-Hall has started just one Premier League game.

The move has undoubtedly disrupted the player’s career, leading to the point of him being made available in January, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Bellingham is having a great season but, as Dewsbury-Hall shows, that doesn’t always mean a player will hit the ground running at a new club.