According to The Northern Echo, Sunderland is now certain that they can convince Chris Rigg and Dan Neil to sign new contracts on Wearside.
After announcing Regis Le Bris’ hiring just over a week ago, Sunderland can now turn their attention to the upcoming campaign.
The Black Cats have a lot of work to do still this summer, but getting their new head coach finalised has relieved the hierarchy of a lot of pressure from the fanbase.
Rigg, 17, is arguably Sunderland’s biggest prospect. The midfielder just turned 17 and is now eligible to sign a professional contract. He played 21 Championship games for Sunderland and scored twice in the league last season.
Neil, 22, played 42 second tier games for his boyhood club. He scored four and assisted a further five last time around.
Both men have been involved in some contract disputes this summer. Rigg has agreed a deal in principle with Sunderland, but he was waiting to see who their new head coach was before committing to signing.
Neil, however, still has two years left on his current contract. When Sunderland tried to extend that this summer it was rejected by the 22-year-old due to the head coach situation.
Now, The Northern Echo reports Sunderland are confident of keeping Rigg at the club beyond this summer and are hopeful he will sign the new deal soon. It is said Rigg is a big part of their plans this season.
Elsewhere, they are also set to push for a breakthrough with Neil now that Le Bris is on board.
Positive signs
Both Rigg and Neil are two big players for Sunderland.
The centre midfield duo are exciting talents and they are both destined to play in the Premier League one day, with or without Sunderland.
However, if Sunderland can keep the pair at the club for an extra season then it will only boost their chances of success this time around.
Le Bris is known for working with young players and his proven track record in this department should help when it comes to making connections with these type of players.
Improvement needed
Sunderland finished 16th in the second tier last season. The Black Cats ended the season woefully under interim head coach Mike Dodds.
They must find improvement from the off this season and whilst it remains to be seen what is a realistic expectation of the club this year, they definitely need to be int he top half as a minimum.
