One does not often see top Premier League clubs turn to Championship teams for potential transfers unless the player in question is that highly talented.
When a team as settled as Liverpool go shopping in the second division of English football, it’s only because of what they think the player’s potential is.
When it so happens that a host of Premier League clubs are interested in signing a 17-year-old Championship starlet, one can imagine the ceiling they assume he possesses. The player in question here is Sunderland midfielder, Chris Rigg.
Back in September, it first emerged that Liverpool had held talks with the teenager’s camp over a potential transfer.
However, the Reds didn’t seem to advance in their interest back then but Rigg has gone on to grow from strength to strength.
Now, as per Caught Offside, a fee of around £25million would be sufficient for Liverpool to secure the signing of Chris Rigg from Sunderland but they are not the only Premier League club in the mix with Man Utd and Arsenal’s name also being thrown into the mix.
Rigg has been a regular starter for the Premier League side this season, impressing with his performances. Predominantly an attacking midfield, the youngster is capable of playing in various midfield roles and has four goals and one assist so far this season.
A mini Dominik Szoboszlai in the making?
Chris Rigg’s statistics (via DataMB) so far this season with Sunderland show him to be a very similar player to Liverpool attacking midfield Dominik Szoboszlai, albeit not at the same level. He seems to have similar traits but is obviously rawer than his senior counterpart.
What this tells Liverpool though is that if they sign the 17-year-old, they might be getting the perfect understudy to the Hungarian and Rigg would be able to develop his game and move to the next level by learning from Szoboszlai.
It must be mentioned that playing for a team that has significantly higher quality might pose a different look for Chris Rigg, in terms of his statistics. There is also some concern on if he will be ready to play at the highest level for the Reds.
However, the course of play could be to sign the Sunderland midfielder and hopefully find him a loan or two, preferably to the Black Cats themselves should they find a way to get promoted to the Premier League next season. Let’s wait and see how it plays out.
