Regis Le Bris is yet to make his first signing as Sunderland head coach.
The Black Cats boss joined the club last month, after Sunderland went without a permanent manager since Michael Beale’s sacking in February.
The club had put their transfer business on hold until Simon Moore arrived on a free transfer, just one day before Le Bris was appointed.
The Frenchman is expected to work with Kristjaan Speakman to bring in a number of new faces to Wearside, while he will also face the challenge of keeping hold of some of their prized assets.
While Sunderland will demand £18 million for Jack Clarke, they have also seen Dan Neil rejected their initial proposal of a new contract.
They are also said to holding talks over a new deal with Dan Ballard, while they are expecting good news on the Chris Rigg front.
Chris Rigg set to sign new contract ‘fairly soon’
The 17-year-old had attracted interest from top clubs across Europe and was waiting to make his decision on his future until a new head coach was appointed.
It only took days of Rigg returning for pre-season testing before reports emerged that he looked likely to put pen to paper on a new three-year deal.
While things can change very quickly in football, it has now been claimed his new contract could be confirmed ‘fairly soon’.
Speaking on Sunderland Echo’s ‘The Roar’ podcast, journalist Phil Smith said: “The club are pretty hopeful, pretty confident that Rigg has decided he’s going to stay, certainly for the time being, he’s going to sign his first professional contract at the club.
“From what I gather, that’s something that we might hear something on fairly soon.”
Smith added: “Not done yet. But at this point, it would be a major surprise if he didn’t sign his first pro deal.”
Sunderland could have already made their signing of the summer
Rigg proved to himself to be one of Sunderland’s most exciting players in the second half of last season, despite only being 16 years old at the time.
The midfielder was regularly praised by Mike Dodds, the club and the media and was dubbed their ‘most dangerous player’, so it came as no surprise when the likes of Liverpool and Man City became interested.
Rigg knows Sunderland is where he will get regular playing time, but his only concern appeared to be who the next manager would be.
Having only met the former Lorient boss for a matter of days, the teenager seemed to make up his mind pretty quickly and that is certainly a very good sign for the Black Cats.
It suggests that the players are very much convinced by his ambitions and ability as a manager, while the club will be hopeful that Rigg’s decision will encourage others to follow suit.
It’s a huge coup for Sunderland and could easily be one of the best ‘signings’ they make all summer.