Tony Mowbray’s spell at Sunderland has been a resounding success, with the club striving for a place in the top half of the Championship table, thanks to some excellent decisions from the former Blackburn manager.
One of those decisions has been to place Trai Hume as his first-choice right-back, which has proven to be a masterstroke. The 20-year-old Northern Irish defender was signed from Linfield in January 2022 for £200k, with competition from Stoke City and Celtic.
Since then, Hume’s value has skyrocketed, with his Expected Transfer Value according to FootballTransfers currently at £619k (€700k). Mowbray’s faith in the defender has been vindicated as Hume has since started 12 matches in the Championship this season and has been a solid operator at the back for the club.
This is in stark contrast to his previous experiences with the Black Cats, where he only managed a handful of appearances in League One and made two substitute outings in the Championship for the previous manager, Neil.
However, under Mowbray’s stewardship, Hume has gone from strength to strength, winning 53% of his duels and averaging 3.3 tackles and interceptions per match. This has made him an essential member of the team, with Josh Bunting hailing him as “immense.”
All of this has resulted in the young defender possessing a Sofascore rating of 6.88, which places him eighth in the squad. It’s an excellent response from a player who was initially not favoured under previous managers.
Given the significant increase in Hume’s value, coupled with his consistently impressive performances in defence, it’s clear that Mowbray has struck gold by making Hume a regular starter in his starting XI. It’s a decision that has undoubtedly paid dividends for Sunderland, and Hume’s future seems bright.
