Sunderland enjoyed a brilliant day out at Wembley last month when they beat Sheffield United in the play-off final to secure promotion back to the Premier League.
Despite their promotion to the top-flight, the Wearside outfit are still having to contend with interest from elsewhere in some of their best players in the summer transfer window.
Sky Sports claims that Borussia Dortmund are in advanced talks over a deal to sign central midfielder Jobe Bellingham from the newly promoted outfit.
jobe bellingham
Fabrizio Romano has also reported that the midfielder has given his priority to making the move to the German side, but the Black Cats will not allow him to leave for less than his £33m release clause.
It now remains to be seen whether or not Dortmund will be able to agree a deal around that £33m release clause in order to bring him to Germany, but Jobe may not be the only Sunderland star on his way out of the Stadium of Light.
Premier League clubs eye Sunderland star
The club's successful 2024/25 campaign, earning promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, has attracted plenty of interest in their players from elsewhere, with top-flight teams now eyeing up one of Regis Le Bris' defenders.
According to Sky Sports, Sunderland full-back Trai Hume is a target for Premier League sides Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are settled top-flight teams.
As explained in the clip above, a host of teams in Spain are also interested in taking the Northern Ireland international away from the Stadium of Light before the end of the summer transfer window.
Hume-Sunderland-Championship
The report does not, however, mention how much money it would take for Sunderland to sell him. If they were to lose Hume, though, it would be an even bigger blow than losing Jobe.
Why losing Trai Hume would be a big blow
Whilst Jobe is a top talent, as evidenced by Dortmund's interest in him, his exit may not have a huge bearing on Sunderland's chances of avoiding the drop next term.
The Black Cats will be in a relegation scrap where they will need outstanding defensive work and players who can make a difference with goals and assists in the final third.
Sunderland 's Jobe Bellingham in action
Jobe did not end up in the top four players for Sunderland for goals (four), assists (three), tackles per game (1.8), or assists per game (0.8) in the Championship, which shows that he is more of an all-rounder, rather than a player who is likely to make a significant impact at either end in the Premier League.
Hume, on the other hand, was among the top players at the club in a host of offensive and defensive statistics from a right-back position and could be crucial to their efforts to avoid the drop.
24/25 Championship Trai Hume Sunderland rank
Sofascore rating 7.20 1st
xA 7.54 1st
Assists 6 2nd
Big chances created 12 1st
Tackles per game 2.7 1st
Interceptions per game 1.0 3rd
Clearances per game 3.0 3rd
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, the 23-year-old full-back was the most creative player in the squad, with the most xA and 'big chances' created, whilst also making the most tackles in the team.
These statistics show that Hume, who was hailed as "outstanding" by journalist Josh Bunting, will be an incredibly key player for Sunderland in the Premier League because he can combine defensive strength with attacking quality down the right flank as an outstanding performer for the Black Cats.
Losing him to Wolves or Everton would be an even bigger blow than losing Jobe because the statistics suggest that he has more potential to be influential at both ends of the pitch in the top-flight next term.
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Sunderland might look to upgrade on Luke O'Nien when venturing up to the Premier League.
It is now down to the club to hold firm and turn down any offers that may come in for his services, whilst convincing the defender to remain on Wearside.