It tells you much about Bellingham that this wasn't how he saw it. Sunderland's eventual 16th-placed finish, and the way the campaign had unravelled, rankled. Bellingham vowed to stay, and to be in best position possible to put it right.

"I wish him all the best. He has been a good servant to Sunderland. I just hope he goes on to develop like his brother."

While Bellingham has a promotion on his CV now, as an individual, Hackney out-ranked the Sunderland star in many key midfield metrics last season - including with his progressive passing, where he topped the number of successful forward passes across all of Europe.