Sunderland played blinder with Hume

Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman has loved his justifiable share of successes within the switch market since arriving on the Stadium of Mild.

The Black Cats chief has assembled a younger and hungry squad for Tony Mowbray to battle within the Championship with, after recruiting a facet able to incomes promotion out of League One final season.

Speakman signed the likes of Ross Stewart, Alex Pritchard, Dennis Cirkin and Jack Clarke to assist the membership escape the third tier after 4 years within the division.

One signing he has seemingly performed a blinder with is full-back Trai Hume, who arrived from Linfield on a four-and-a-half-year contract in January 2022.

Transfermarkt valued the teen at simply €175k (£154k) on the time of the transfer and this means that Sunderland weren’t signing a highly-valuable expertise who was anticipated to make a big impact instantly.

Is Trai Hume a future Sunderland star?

Then-manager Lee Johnson urged persistence with the gem, saying: “We’re trying ahead to working with him and seeing how he adapts to English soccer and the challenges of League One, in addition to having calibre of participant round him.

“We’ve to present him time, however we additionally should push him as onerous as we will to combine him inside the first crew as quickly as potential.”

The defender, who was as soon as dubbed “magnificent” within the air by retired midfielder Barry Johnston, solely began three video games for the primary crew within the second half of the League One marketing campaign however confirmed loads of promise in these shows.

As per SofaScore, he made 3.7 tackles and interceptions per sport and received a whopping 71% of his particular person duels, successful 68% on the bottom and 82% within the air. No Sunderland player averaged extra tackles and interceptions per match than the Northern Irishman, which highlights how spectacular his defensive work was in his restricted minutes on the pitch.

The 20-year-old has made five appearances within the Championship up to now within the present marketing campaign, beginning two of these video games. He just lately caught the attention in opposition to Birmingham as he recorded a SofaScore score of seven.3 and made three clearances, one block, one sort out, one interception, and one clearance off the road.

On the time of writing, Transfermarkt worth Hume at €350k (£308k). Which means his worth has rocketed by 100% in lower than a yr on Wearside.

Speakman has performed a blinder with the gem as he has plucked out a gifted younger participant with the potential to enhance and he may develop right into a helpful asset sooner or later if his spectacular defensive performances proceed and his market worth continues to rise.