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Former Aston Villa player Lee Hendrie has slapped an enormous price tag on Sunderland duo Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg – and compared the pair to Jamed Maddison and Jack Grealish.

The teenage duo were both recognised at the North East Football Writers Association Awrds on Sunday evening, sharing the Young Player of the Year accolade after a meteoric 12 months that has seen them establish themselves not only as key players for Sunderland but also as reported transfer targets for several Premier League and European heavyweights.

In recognition of their rapid development, the Sunderland starlets were jointly voted winners of this year’s prestigious local award.

The pair have played the majority of games for the Black Cats this season under head coach Régis Le Bris, with the Black Cats currently fourth in the Championship.

However, the pair are also attracting serious attention in the transfer market.

“It’s massive because these two are very talented young players who have every chance of going and being even better,” former Aston Villa man and now EFL pundit Lee Hendrie told Football League World when asked about Jobe and Rigg.

“The problem is obviously the establishment of where they actually can achieve playing. That’s the big thing. Until they’ve proven that they are capable of playing in the Premier League and are worthy of playing Premier League football, that’s where the price tag extends.

“Being in the Championship, which is one of the toughest leagues, it’s a completely different prospect.

They’re still worth their weight in gold, for sure.

You look at those who have gone on to be top Premier League players and have played in the Championship, the likes of Jack Grealish, James Maddison.

There is so many that you can label that have gone on to brilliant things.

“For their first fees, you’ve got to be talking around the £40million mark, you would say, for each of these players. They’re very different in the way they play.

Jobe Bellingham has got that physicality, he can get from midfield into the box to score goals, where Chris Rigg has got that great elegance when playing, and of picking out that pass.

“They’re very young players too, so I’m sure that Sunderland will be wanting around that £40million mark for each of them.

It’s just, would they get that at this current time? That’s the big question.

“I think future-wise, that’s where the big fees come in for these sorts of players, but there is always the add-ons too.

It’s a tricky one, but I’m sure that they will want big money for both Bellingham and Rigg, because they are pivotal in the way they play.”

What have Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham said recently?

In an interview addressing his recent award, Bellingham said: “It feels really good. I’m really honoured to have won the award.

There’s a lot of top players who have won it in the past. It’s an award that gets a lot of recognition up here, so yeah, I’m really pleased.”

When asked about how pleased he was to be sharing the award with Sunderland teammate Rigg, he added: “I think first and foremost Riggy really deserves it and I’m delighted that we can share it because I think it’s really special.

Both of our names will be attached to that forever because I love playing with him. We’ve got a really special bond on and off the pitch, we’re really good mates.

“I think for the club it shows how they’ve improved and are amazing at nurturing young players.

It’s part of the make-up of the club now and the fans are completely behind it. They get our full support and we get their full support on a matchday, so it’s a really good relationship and the club feels like a really good place to be at the minute.

“It’s a testament to everyone at the club really, from top to bottom, that two players can win this award.

It shows that we’re willing to nurture players and then get the best out of them, which we’ve done not just with me and Riggy but with many players as you’ve seen in the squad and down the years recently.

I think it will show maybe other players that the club are interested in that this is a really good place to be for young players and it helps you develop, helps you play for a massive club which you get massive experiences from, and then it helps you grow and also compete.

“I knew about Riggy before, to be fair, but he’s the player I’ve been most impressed with since I’ve come to the club, probably him and the likes of Dan Neil.

I think playing next to players like him, Dan, as I’ve mentioned, I’ve seen how good they are and how hard they work as well, which I must mention about Riggy.

Every day he trains like he wants to get better, with a great ambition and a great desire. So that’s the best thing for me really.

The talent kind of comes secondary, which he definitely has, but him as a person, he’s always going to keep improving because of that hunger that he’s got, which for me is like, they’re the players you want to be playing with. So Riggy fully deserves the award, as I’ve said, and he’s just got to keep going because he’s on to big things.”

In a speech for the event, Rigg expressed his delight at winning the award, as well as his admiration for a number of his colleagues. He said: “It’s always good to get noticed for your accomplishments over the season.

It is a prestigious award, so I am very happy and I’m also happy to win it alongside a fellow team mate as well.”

When asked about Sunderland’s willingness to trust in youth, he said: “It’s great. Honestly, you’ve seen it through the years. There are loads of come-ups such as Dan [Neil], Patto [Anthony Patterson] and obviously us two next. I think it says a lot about the club and where we want to go.”

Turning his attention to Bellingham specifically, he continued: “He’s been unreal, to be honest. I think he’s improved so much over the last couple of years.

Sometimes you get star-struck by him, just the things he does week in, week out, day in, day out. I think if he does maximise how good he is day in, day out, then he can go right to the very top.”

On the topic of his emergence as a first team talent at the Stadium of Light, Rigg said: “It’s hard to reflect because there’s always another game in the Championship. I think you’ve just got to push it to one side and try and hit the next target.

The lads have helped us reach this target and mainly helped us win this award, due to them being very supportive as soon as I came up, and there’s a few names I could name – like I said, Dan, Luke O’Nien – but the staff have played a big part in it as well.

I’d like to thank everyone, to be honest, and hopefully we can kick on.”

When quizzed on the need for Sunderland to finish the season on a strong note as they push for promotion back to the Premier League, the starlet concluded: “I think we are so confident that we can get in that race.

I know that we’ve hit a patch, but I think the team that we’ve got, we want to win every game.

I think that’s crucial coming towards the back end of the season. I think we’ve just got to put it all out there and see what we can do.”

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