Newcastle United now told price for 17-year-old wonderkid from local rivals Sunderland

Newcastle United may have already missed out on teen sensation Chris Rigg to Sunderland once but the Magpies have kept a watchful eye over the youngster ever since.

Despite being a lifelong Newcastle fan, Chris Rigg opted to join the Black Cats as a youth seeing a quicker route to first-team football there than at Newcastle, and it was a decision that has absolutely paid off.

Rigg is now one of the first names on the Sunderland team sheet, earning praise from fans and pundits almost every time he steps out for the Mackems.

However, there's a growing realisation on Wearside that they won't be able to keep hold of him for much longer with Newcastle joined by the likes of Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund in their admiration of the 17-year-old.

Sunderland have walloped a £25m price tag on Chris Rigg

Indeed, Sunderland are already bracing themselves for enquiries and have, according to Newcastle World, slapped a £25 million asking price on the midfielder.

That may not seem like much when you look at the prices of other players Newcastle have been chasing lately, such as Antoine Semenyo and Bryan Mbeumo, but for a 17-year-old, that's going to give pause for thought for sure.

Rigg has made over 70 first-team appearances for Sunderland already, and in his 21 outings this season he's amassed three goals and an assist.

A £25m move for Chris Rigg could be a risk either way

As well as his performances for Sunderland, Rigg has a stellar reputation at international level having represented the Three Lions at every level up to U18 so far, and is tipped to be a huge player in England's future.

£25 million may be viewed as a risk for a 17-year-old, but at the same time, not snapping him up for that amount now could be just as big of a risk as Newcastle could lose out to another interested club or end up having to pay over twice as much a year or two down the line.

With Newcastle's PSR issues and insistence that January will be a quiet window again, we doubt we'll see movement in January, but the summer could be massive for Rigg and a lot will depend on Sunderland's promotion hopes. He may stick around if they get promoted to get some guaranteed Premier League experience rather than move and potentially have to ride the bench.