Chris Rigg continued to shine as he started a second game in a row for Sunderland.
The midfielder was left out of Sunderland’s opener against Cardiff City, but returned to the starting line-up as their second-string team was beaten by Preston North End in the Carabao Cup.
An injury to Alan Browne meant he retained his place over the weekend and Regis Le Bris certainly won’t have regretted putting him straight back in.
Rigg made a key contribution as Sunderland thrashed Sheffield Wednesday at the Stadium of Light, making three key passes and racking up 88% passing accuracy.
The 17-year-old was one of many that shined and proved too much for the Owls to handle – dominating their midfield general Barry Bannan, who is literally double his age.
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Rigg showered in praise on Instagram
Rigg took to Instagram following a successful afternoon on Wearside, writing: “Back at the SOL with a huge win 😍”.
The youngster was flooded with messages of support from his Sunderland teammates.
Jobe Bellingham wrote: “What a joy”.
Leo Hjelde wrote: “IDOL 🤍❤️”.
Matty Young wrote: “Top 🙌”.
Thomas Lavery wrote: “Nice you 🔥”.
Rigg also received messages from a number of his England teammates.
Liverpool midfielder Trey Nyoni wrote: “🔥”, while another Red, Lewis Koumas, wrote: “🔥🔥”.
Manchester United’s Tyler Fletcher put another “🔥”, while Newcastle youngster Trevan Sanusi wrote: “#11 😮💨”.
A number of other young players including Brooklyn Nfonkeu (Man City), Finley McAllister (Man United) and Joe Ndala (Man City) also praised him.
Rigg’s international teammates should be jealous of him
Rigg continues to smash it up at Sunderland, and with all the messages of support from players of a similar age, you can’t help but think their lack of regular football may have helped him make his decision over the summer.
The midfielder could well have joined a top Premier League club, but opted to stay on Wearside in favour of a place in the starting line-up.
A majority of his England U17s teammates are still playing academy football and are some way off making their club debuts.
Of all the players in the England squad for the U17s Euros this summer, Mikey Moore (Tottenham) and Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal) are the only players who have featured for their senior teams.
Rigg is undeniably a lot more talented than a lot of his international teammates, but there is no doubt that he would be developing at a much slower rate if he was stuck in a Premier League academy.