Sunderland full-back Trai Hume has been taking inspiration from several Premier League full-backs, as he and Michael Beale try to improve his game.
Beale has a Sunderland team brimming with young talent; even more so after the club signed Leo Hjelde, Romaine Mundle, and Callum Styles during the January transfer window.
The Black Cats spent well on those three, spending their share of money last summer as well.
But one signing that is starting to stand out more than most is Hume. He was signed for just £200,000 from Linfield at the start of 2022, and he’s since gone on to become a valuable member of the team.
He’s played across the defence and he’s shone wherever he’s played. Though it seems like the 21-year-old is starting to settle in at right-back, having now played in all 32 of his side’s league fixtures this season.
Trai Hume taking inspiration from Premier League stars
Speaking to Sunderland Echo ahead of the weekend clash vs Birmingham City, Hume revealed that he and Beale have ‘personal meetings’ in which they watch clips of Premier League full-backs.
Among those are Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, Aston Villa’s Matty Cash, and Arsenal man Oleksandr Zinchenko.
“Me and the gaffer have clips, we have personal meetings,” explained Hume. “We show clips of other full-backs, passes and crosses, and have been working on it on the training pitch. You can see he’s trying to provide more for the strikers and the wide players getting into the box. Hopefully it will come off.
“We’ve watched Trent, we’ve watched Matty Cash, and defending-wise we’ve watched Zinchenko on the other side. Obviously at the minute I’m in the right-back spot and it’s just watching the top players basically and trying to learn and trying to improve.”
Hume moving on up at Sunderland
We’re definitely seeing signs of the likes of Alexander-Arnold, Cash, and Zinchenko in Hume’s game this season.
He’s a full-back who can do the forward running and cross like an Alexander-Arnold or a Cash, but he’s also very dependable at the back like Zinchenko; we saw a solid defensive display from Hume against Huddersfield Town in midweek.
So with such a rounded game and at such a young age, Hume could quickly come into the conversation to become a Premier League full-back himself.
That could yet be with Sunderland, or we could get to the summer and see Hume among other Sunderland names being linked with moves to the English top flight.
If he keeps this current performance levels up then he’ll inevitably become a target for clubs in the top leagues, and it could mean another huge payday for the Black Cats.
Birmingham City vs Sunderland kicks off at 3pm tomorrow.