A number of Sunderland stars have reacted after Chris Rigg made his first start for the club yesterday.
Chris Rigg has been a name on fans’ lips since making his senior debut in January 2023.
The teenager was on the radar of multiple top clubs and he has making appearances in the FA Cup at only 15 years old.
Now 16, Rigg netted his first senior goal against Southampton in September and had since made a number of cameos.
However, with the likes of Liverpool and Newcastle United still eager to snap Rigg up, supporters had been getting nervous about his future, with the teenager rarely given a chance this season.
Having lost four games on the bounce and a number of poor displays from the likes of Pierre Ekwah and Jobe Bellingham, Sunderland were encouraged to hand the midfielder his first start during last night’s clash with Leicester City.
Having played against Norwich only days before, Dodds agreed to change things around in his starting line-up, with Rigg coming in for Romaine Mundle.
The Black Cats academy product was brilliant at the Stadium of Light, completing 100% of his dribbles and ground duels, as well as making 20 passes.
Dodds was the first to praise him and admitted that he didn’t really want to take him off against the Foxes, while Rigg was flooded with praise from his teammates and fans after posting on his Instagram.
Alongside several photos of the match, Rigg wrote: “A proud moment for me today making my full debut for this incredible club.”
Clearly a popular figure on Wearside, the teenager was then met with support from his team. Trai Hume, Nazariy Rusyn, Dan Neil, Nectarios Triantis, Patrick Roberts, Niall Huggins, Dan Ballard, Jenson Seelt, Dennis Cirkin, Luis Hemir, Leo Hjelde, Romaine Mundle and Mason Burstow all ‘liked’ the post, while several of them left comments too.
Here are some of the Sunderland players’ comments…
Dan Neil – “❤️”
Dennis Cirkin – “Starboy”
Niall Huggins – “Congrats bro deserve it 🙌”
Jenson Seelt – “❤️👊”
Leo Hjelde – “Keep smashing it brother 🐐❤️”
Will Chris Rigg stay at Sunderland?
A report following Michael Beale’s sacking claimed that Sunderland are hopeful Chris Rigg will stay at the club after his exit, and fans will be really praying that is true.
We all knew that the midfielder had a lot of potential, but watching him last night, it was extremely hard to believe that he was only 16 years old.
We have had a lot of youngsters in the first team in recent years, but often you could still tell they were young from their decision-making or mistakes. Rigg does not play like a 16 year old at all and was quite easily matching the players around him, and exceeding many of them too.
Rigg should be starting every game for the rest of the season now, and it’s very exciting to think about how he could perform under a new manager that actually knows what he is doing. But the first challenge is keeping hold of him while he’s still a teenager, because it won’t take a lot for a big club to come and scoop him up.