Sunderland’s win against Middlesbrough was enjoyed by many on Monday night. It was an entertaining game from a neutral perspective, and scouts from Arsenal and Manchester United surely enjoyed it too.
Sunderland beat Middlesbrough 3-2 at the Riverside on Monday night, pushing the Championship’s top four even further away from the rest of the pack.
Regis Le Bris watched on as goals came from Dan Neil, Wilson Isidor, and an own goal from Middlesbrough’s Ryan Giles.
Enzo Le Fee was the Man of the Match for Sunderland. He assisted Isidor’s goal and then put the ball into the box that lead to the winning own goal, on what was another impressive night for the Frenchman.
There were impressive individual performances across the pitch, but it was midfield duo Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham who were being watched by a couple of Premier League giants in the stands.
Arsenal and Man United scouts watch Sunderland win vs Middlesbrough
Both Rigg and Bellingham have been linked with Manchester United in the last few months. Bellingham has had loose links to Arsenal, whilst both have been mentioned alongside the likes of Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund as well.
On Monday night though, Arsenal and Manchester United had scouts in the stands at the Riverside, per an emerging report from TBR Football, with the Premier League duo potentially making checks ahead of summer moves for the Black Cats duo.
Rigg is under contract at the Stadium of Light until the summer of 2027 whilst Bellingham is under contract until 2028.
Sunderland will ‘definitely’ lose Chris Rigg in the summer
Sunderland seem to be in a position where, if they miss out on promotion, there’ll be a swarm of teams looking to poach players like Bellingham and Rigg.
But the list doesn’t stop with those two. There’s several others in the Sunderland squad who’ve been linked with big money moves away form Wearside in the past few months.
Speaking to Sunderland AFC News earlier in the season, transfer expert Graeme Bailey said that Rigg will definitely leave Sunderland if the Black Cats aren’t promoted this season, with no mention of Bellingham.
Bailey said: “If they don’t go up they’ll probably lose two or three. Chris Rigg definitely. [Dan] Ballard probably, and maybe [Trai] Hume.”
Given how good Bellingham has been this season, though, he may be the Sunderland player that attracts the most attention in the summer, even if Sunderland do go up.