Transfer gossip: Everton 'monitoring' £30m-rated Sunderland star alongside rivals - report

Everton are the latest club to be linked with teenage Sunderland sensation Chris Rigg.

The Sun states that the Premier League team are “monitoring” the 17-year-old attacking midfielder, who signed a three-year professional deal last summer which will run until 2027. The report comes after several fresh links regarding Rigg.

Sunderland are protected in the event of interest, given the length of the contract the player signed earlier this year, but that has not stopped reports linking the youngster with the lines of Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

League One club Birmingham City were also somewhat surprisingly credited with an interest in Rigg despite their relegation from the Championship last season. The Blues have been monitoring the player since Tony Mowbray was in charge but that particular deal is highly unlikely to happen.

The Sun, however, claim that Everton are interested in signing Rigg in the future are all set to battle it out with other interested clubs for the England youth international's signature. Birmingham City reportedly values Rigg at around £10million whilst some pundits have slapped a £30million price tag on the youngster’s head.

Rigg started Sunderland’s last game away at Watford as the Black Cats suffered a 2-1 loss at Vicarage Road in the Championship. The week previously, however, Rigg netted an impressive back-heeled winner at the Stadium of Light against Middlesbrough under head coach Régis Le Bris. The player has featured in all of the Wearsiders’ seven league games this campaign.