The Championship leaders Sunderland return to action at Millwall on Saturday with an ever-increasing number of suitors eyeing the progress of the division’s youngest squad — and Chris Rigg, 17, and Jobe Bellingham, 19, in particular.
The teenage pair also have manager Regis Le Bris saying they are best staying on Wearside for their development.
Rigg, who made his Sunderland debut at 15, signed a three-year deal in July and Bellingham extended his contract in August until June 2028. Yet the impressive progress of both players has seen them tracked by clubs in the Premier League and Europe.
The length of the contracts give Sunderland negotiating strength, as does the form of the team under Le Bris and the fact both teenagers are playing regularly. The Sunderland manager, speaking at the club’s training ground on Thursday, was keen to emphasise the players should understand the nature of “the project” they are involved in and the benefits of staying where they are.
“I think with these players,” Le Bris said of Rigg and Bellingham, “they are involved in the project, and they know that they can improve in this team.
“So from a personal perspective, it is good for them, and also to be part of this journey as well. It is rare to have this. Sometimes you can go a whole career without having these elements — where you are in a club, you like that club, you are improving and you believe in a very interesting journey. I am confident for the future.
“I think it is important for them to be here until the challenge is not high enough for them. Probably, when they feel that they need something more to develop, that should be the right moment to leave.
“But at the minute, for both players, I think they are still in the right zone for their career development. They need to play, and they need to learn. They need to learn about playing in a collective style, so for them, I think the culture we have here is still working for them. I think the graph of their learning is still going up at a good level.”
Rigg and Bellingham have played key roles in Sunderland’s resurgent campaign (Harry Murphy/Getty Images)
Le Bris said the topic is not discussed every day but the club are aware of increasing interest and, while it is not anticipated either will move in January, he acknowledged: “I know the journey the players are on, but the environment is still complex.
“From a rational perspective, it is very clear, but sometimes you do not know what else in going on in the environment that a player is in. Sometimes that can make them make another decision.”
Bellingham is one of three significant Sunderland suspensions at Millwall, along with Trai Hume and Patrick Roberts. The manager also had bad news on two more injured players, Romaine Mundle (hamstring) and Alan Browne (leg fracture), who will be both be out of “six to eight weeks”. The better news is that Aji Alese is fit again and available.
Millwall have won four of their last five matches to jump to eighth in the Championship, including 1-0 victories over promotion favourites Leeds United and Burnley.
This is the first of three big games for Sunderland in seven days — West Bromwich Albion at home on Tuesday and a trip to Sheffield United next Friday follow. “A massive week,” smiled Le Bris, using his fingers as quotation marks.
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(Top photos: Getty Images)
