Sunderland Nation

Kristjaan Speakman: Sunderland star can reach very highest level

Sunderland sporting director Chris Rigg has been talking about Chris Rigg - and touched on how long the Black Cats might be able to keep him.

Michael Graham

Chris Rigg - Sunderland midfielder
Chris Rigg - Sunderland midfielder / IMAGO / PA Images

Kristjaan Speakman believes Sunderland star Chris Rigg has the talent to become one of the best players in the world, although he is reluctant to make too many predictions at the moment.

Rigg only turned 17 over the summer before signing a three-year professional contract with the Black Cats, and he has been a regular in the side so far this season.

Not only that, but he has also been a star performer, scoring two goals already and generally catching the eye with hugely dynamic midfield performances.

Asked by the Second Tier Podcast about just how good Rigg is and how far he can go, Speakman urged caution. However, he knows that the midfielder has every chance to make it to the very top.

“I think I've always been a big believer with young players that we have to be really, really careful that we don't binge on them and oversubscribe to greatness,” he said.

“I think one of the things I've always felt really passionate about is that we don't put a ceiling on where players can get, but everybody has to reach their ceiling. And for some players, that'll be Champions League, for some of those players, it'll be League Two.

“Chris has the credentials, if you like, and the mentality especially, to play at the highest level. It's difficult to get there - that's why so few do it. And we'll do everything in our power while he's with us to be able to enhance that and obviously support him to get to the highest level.

“But he's like every young player. They should be dreaming about playing at the very highest level. Their ambition should be to be playing for England and in the Champions League final.

“I've seen it done, so I know it can be done. And like I said, on the way through, there'll be people that'll be sceptical. But the player has to believe.

“The player has to be a dreamer. He has to keep the same mentality when he came through the door at nine years old, dreaming about playing for Sunderland. Him, Dan Neil, Anthony Patterson, they're all doing it, which is obviously fantastic.”

Given Rigg’s performances this season and obvious potential, he has already been linked with a slew of top clubs including Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United.

His quality also makes it hard for Sunderland supporters to believe it is anything other than a matter of time before he is lured away from Wearside.

For Speakman, though, he reasonably suggests that is the position you’d always choose to be in and it was certainly better than the alternative.

Asked about how long Sunderland can realistically hope to keep Rigg for, Speakman said: “I think it's not a hard question to answer.

“The interest is always a backhanded compliment. Would we rather have a team full of talent where everyone is talking about buying and trading our players, or would we rather have a group that no one's really interested in?

“So, we try to put ourselves in the right position around our contracts and how we manage our squad, etc. We try to provide that opportunity. We try to ensure that we're aligned with the players.

“I think I've always said that sometimes players will progress faster than the club and there'll be another opportunity for them. We have to respect that.

“We lost young Jack [Clarke] in the summer and he moved on to Ipswich, which I think is the way that the football system works. I don't think we have any issues with that. We'll just take every decision, every event as it comes, and try to deal with it appropriately.”

Published
Michael Graham
MICHAEL GRAHAM