Whenever a young English footballer is impressing and gaining attention, he will routinely be linked to Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus.
Those are easy stories thrown out into the UK media and often have very little, if anything, behind them. Dortmund is always the likeliest of the bunch given the success they’ve had in the past when signing Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham.
Sunderland’s Chris Rigg is going through this process at the moment, with his dazzling talent putting him firmly on the conveyor belt of youngsters who can be linked with the clubs named above and various others in the Premier League.
Despite Real Madrid links, none of the serious Spanish outlets are reporting on Los Blancos interest independently. However, Diario AS have clearly seen what’s been building and moved to introduce the Sunderland youngster to a Spanish audience.
They tell their readers there’s a big desire in England to make sure that if and when Rigg does leave Sunderland he doesn’t leave the country, therefore looking to avoid a Bellingham repeat.
That, again, feels like an opinion plucked from thin air, but it doesn’t dilute their praise of Sunderland’s rising star, and the Spanish newspaper states ‘his ability to draw the ball, his vision and his finishing are almost unique at his age’.
Similarly, in Germany, there’s no independent claims of interest from Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
The 17-year-old is receiving growing attention, which will mean more of these claims will be made.
