Sunderland have a reputation for being a hotbed that allows young talents to shine and prosper, going all the way back to Jordan Henderson’s emergence up the ranks at the Stadium of Light.
Henderson would go on to be a household name in the Premier League with Liverpool after kickstarting his career in the senior game on Wearside, whilst the likes of 19-year-old Jobe Bellingham in today’s squad are expected to go on and achieve similarly big things when leaving the Black Cats.
Bellingham also has a teammate in the middle of the park who is being tipped to be a superstar as he continues to develop, with Chris Rigg already a first-team face week in week out for Regis Le Bris’ side in the Championship at the tender age of 17.
Rigg’s time at Sunderland
Rigg only being a wide-eyed teenager still must stun those looking in from the outside, considering the Black Cats number 11 has been in and around the side since early 2023.
When making his first professional appearance in January of that year, the teen went down as the second youngest player ever to don a Sunderland jersey, with the starlet never looking back as more and more first-team chances opened up.
Now, Rigg has made 40 appearances in the senior mix with six goals fired home across that span of games, as the introduction of Le Bris in the dug-out has managed to get even more out of the raw youngster.
Three of those strikes have come in Championship action under the Frenchman, including a stunning flicked finish against Middlesbrough back in September, which narrowly won his table-topping side the contest 1-0 against Michael Carrick’s men.
There could be some regret on the end of the second-tier outfit now that they didn’t try and keep another Rigg-like homegrown product over the summer, particularly considering Le Bris’ tutelage is seemingly working wonders on other young faces in the squad.
The Sunderland youngster who could have been the first Rigg
The former academy prodigy here is Ellis Taylor, who walked away from the Sunderland U21 structure in May after not being gifted a new contract at his boyhood employers.
He has since moved on to League Two Harrogate Town, but it will feel like a case of what could have been when it comes to the 21-year-old, especially when you consider how quickly Rigg has taken to Le Bris’ new managerial methods.
Taylor’s numbers for the U21s by position | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Position played | Games played | Goals scored | Assists |
LB | 13 | 3 | 2 |
LM | 10 | 1 | 0 |
RM | 8 | 4 | 0 |
RB | 8 | 6 | 1 |
CF | 5 | 2 | 2 |
CM | 3 | 0 | 0 |
AM | 2 | 0 | 0 |
RW | 1 | 1 | 0 |
DM | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Sourced by Transfermarkt | |||
Playing in a staggering nine different positions for Sunderland when on the roster of their U21s, everyone at the club must have been anticipating that the Hartlepool-born youngster would eventually make a name for himself in the first-team fold.
He was even touted as having a “really bright future” at the Stadium of Light by Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman in 2021, only for him to go on to make a disappointing five first-team appearances in total before Harrogate picked him up for nothing.
He has since gone to be a hit for the Sulphurites – after being labelled as an “exciting” new signing by Harrogate head of recruitment Lloyd Kerry when the capture was announced – with the versatile 21-year-old scoring three times from 20 games, matching Rigg’s goal numbers for the season in the process.
Of course, the Black Cats ace is shining two leagues above his counterpart, but Taylor hasn’t allowed his career to fall off a cliff after departing his boyhood club.
Instead, he has taken to his new League Two environment well, with the potential there one day for Taylor to face off against Le Bris’ men down the line, if he can rise up the EFL ladder.
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