Bellingham leads BVB to the top spot – Number 1 in the CIES Index

In the bright light of the Signal Iduna Park, Jobe Bellingham, the 21‑year‑old star and brother of Jude, regularly trains under Niko Kovac. The young midfielder has been a regular starter for weeks and, laut.de reports, has reached a market value of around €32.8 million. His dynamism makes the team increasingly stronger.

CIES analysis confirms Bellingham's rank

An analysis by the CIES Football Observatory, conducted with data from Impect, rated the English youth international at 84.1 out of 100 points – the highest number in the global ranking of U‑22 central midfielders. This makes Bellingham number 1 according to the statistics.

In second place follows Manchester United talent Kobbie Mainoo with 83.2 points. Then the 18‑year‑old Sassuolo player Darryl Bakola takes the third spot with 81.6 points and is already on Juventus Turin's radar.

The fourth place is taken by the Italian debutant Alessandro Romano with 81.1 points, while Matvey Kisylak, who has earned eleven caps for Russia since March 2025, sits at fifth place with 79.2 points.

The photo by Leon Kügeler, released by Getty Images, shows Bellingham in action and underscores his status as a star at Borussia Dortmund.

The outstanding statistics confirm that Bellingham is not only a key player for the BVB, but also has reached the highest performance level among U‑22 midfielders worldwide.