Sunderland star could pick Newcastle United as his next club as sources reveal Magpies ‘love him and want him’

Newcastle United could be about to poach one of the many exciting Sunderland prospects in the next summer transfer window. For Black Cats fans, it would be a travesty.

Sunderland are in a very strong situation right now: sitting in 4th place of the Championship table and boasting a first-team squad worth over £100million, if previous and recent reports regarding transfer values are to be believed.

Of course, owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus won’t offload all of his player assets in the summer. And who stays and who goes may largely depend on whether or not Sunderland earn promotion this season.

But there’ll certainly be interest in the summer transfer window and fans might already know who’s going to come into the spotlight; the likes of Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg are the obvious candidates.

It’s recently been claimed that Bellingham and Rigg are worth £40million each and so cashing in even one of them in the summer could fund a very healthy transfer window for the Black Cats.

But right now it seems like Rigg is the one more likely to leave the Stadium of Light, given his age and the sheer volume of interest in signing him.

Chris Rigg can pick his next club, and it could be Newcastle United

Rigg signed a professional contract with Sunderland last summer. That came amid strong interest from the likes of Newcastle United who wanted to poach the 17-year-old after he made 21 Championship appearances in the 2023/24 campaign.

He’s since made 31 league appearances under Regis Le Bris this season, scoring four times. Rigg has become a key player despite his young age and his fine form has lead to links with Real Madrid and Manchester United, as well as a number of other Premier League and European teams.