Trai Hume has once again been an unsung hero for Sunderland this season. But the Premier League vultures have been taking notice.
For just £200,000, Sunderland signed a defender who’s statistically been one of the best in the Championship over the last two years: his name is Trai Hume.
The Northern Ireland international has had a rapid rise since arriving at the Stadium of Light in January 2022, having already racked up 121 total appearances for the Black Cats.
This season, the 22-year-old has again been in fine form, featuring in 36 of 37 league games so far, with one goal and an impressive six assists to his name, as the right-back discovers he has a knack for pinpoint crosses.
But transfer interest in Hume at Sunderland has been present for some time now. Last summer it was Aston Villa and Napoli taking a look, but most recently it was Fulham.
Towards the end of the January transfer window it was revealed that Fulham have an interest in Hume, though it never amounted to anything more than pure reports of interest.
Trai Hume admits he loves playing for Sunderland amid transfer interest
Speaking to the club ahead of the weekend, where Sunderland take on Frank Lampard’s Coventry City at the CBS Arena, Hume has perhaps given an indication as to how he feels about staying with Sunderland, amid what is likely to be growing transfer interest as we near the summer.
The youngster has admitted that he loves playing for the club, saying: “I love playing for this Club. It gets me excited every week. As long as I’m doing that then I’m happy. Everyone dreams of reaching the highest level and I think we have a great chance of doing that. We’ll all keep believing.”
At the time of Fulham’s reported interest in Hume, it was claimed that Sunderland would want a fee in the region of £20million for the player. If the Sunderland owners cashed in for that amount, it would mark a 100x mark up on the player.
There’s another London club interested in Trai Hume at Sunderland
At the start of January, a transfer story went somewhat under the radar, revealing that Crystal Palace had their eyes on a handful of Sunderland players.
The Eagles’ interest in Jobe Bellingham is nothing new. But at the time it was also claimed that Crystal Palace were interested in Hume, as well as Chris Rigg.
Palace have a habit of picking up the Championship’s best young players, signing names like Adam Wharton and Michael Olise among many others, and given Sunderland’s horde of talented youngsters, Palace may well have their sights set on a Wearside raid this summer.
Hume has arguably been Sunderland’s most consistent performer this season. Now at 22, he’s someone who has the experience to maybe step up to the Premier League now as well.
He could be one to keep an eye on in the summer transfer window.