Black Cats fans have offered their predictions on how much Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham could be worth after Tommy Watson’s recent bids.
As the January transfer window draws closer to its conclusion, Sunderland are still fighting a battle to keep hold of their top prospects.
The big story for Sunderland is their desire to keep hold of 18-year-old prospect Tommy Watson, despite two bids coming from Brighton for the winger, with the second totalling £12 million, with three-quarters of that set to accumulate an upfront fee.
Due to the fact that Kristjaan Speakman clearly values Watson, who has only notched six Championship starts this season at higher than Brighton’s audacious bid, Sunderland fans have been left trying to work out how much Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg could be valued by the Black Cats Director of Football.
Sunderland fans debate over Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg value after Tommy Watson bids
After journalist James Copley on X sought the opinions of Sunderland fans on how much Rigg and Bellingham would be worth, many Black Cats fans gave a range of opinions, stretching far past the club’s current record fee for a departure, currently held by Jordan Pickford at £23.7m.
One fan compared the two Sunderland aces to Spurs and former Leeds United man Archie Gray, as one said: “Seeing that Gray went to Spurs for like £45m-50m. £60M for Jobe and £25m-30m for Rigg.”
Their opinion was backed up by another who suggested that ‘Jobe and Rigg are equal talents to Archie Gray. £40m each. Shouldn’t be talking less than £30m’.
Many fans were quick to suggest that Bellingham was the bigger of the two prospects, with one suggesting that ‘Jobe genuinely is worth 40 million, not a penny less, argue with the wall, Riggy is a 22 million with future add ons type of deal’.
The £30m plus mark has been touted by many fans for the pair, with another suggesting that an acceptable value would be ‘Rigg 30m Jobe 40m. Plus add ons and sell on clauses for both’.
The Black Cats are in a perfect position with top prospects
Often with Championship clubs, their top prospects can act as a double-edged sword, particularly in a January transfer window.
Sunderland, in this case however, have managed something that clubs often fail at, and that is offering a reason to stay at the club despite Premier League interest.
It is clear that both Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg are more than settled on Wearside, despite plenty of links to European and Premier League sides.
It has been a long time in the making, but Speakman has created an environment that prioritises the development of youngsters, putting them into the foreground, and there is no doubt that that has played a part in keeping Bellingham and Rigg at the club.