Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman has enjoyed his fair share of successes in the transfer market since arriving at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats chief has assembled a young and hungry squad for Tony Mowbray to battle in the Championship with, after recruiting a side capable of earning promotion out of League One last season.

Speakman signed the likes of Ross Stewart, Alex Pritchard, Dennis Cirkin and Jack Clarke to help the club escape the third tier after four years in the division.

One signing he has seemingly played 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 youngster at just €175k (£154k) at the time of the move and this indicates that Sunderland were not signing a highly-valuable talent who was expected to make a huge impact right away.

Then-manager Lee Johnson urged patience with the gem, saying: "We are looking forward to working with him and seeing how he adapts to English football and the challenges of League One, as well as having a good calibre of player around him.

"We have to give him time, but we also have to push him as hard as we can to integrate him within the first team as soon as possible."

The defender, who was once dubbed "magnificent" in the air by retired midfielder Barry Johnston, only started three games for the first team in the second half of the League One campaign but showed plenty of promise in those displays.

As per SofaScore, he made 3.7 tackles and interceptions per game and won a whopping 71% of his individual duels, winning 68% on the ground and 82% in the air. No Sunderland player averaged more tackles and interceptions per match than the Northern Irishman, which highlights how impressive his defensive work was in his limited minutes on the pitch.

The 20-year-old has made five appearances in the Championship so far in the current campaign, starting two of those games. He recently caught the eye against Birmingham as he recorded a SofaScore rating of 7.3 and made three clearances, one block, one tackle, one interception, and one clearance off the line.

At the time of writing, Transfermarkt value Hume at €350k (£308k). This means that his value has rocketed by 100% in less than a year on Wearside.

Speakman has played a blinder with the gem as he has plucked out a talented young player with the potential to improve and he could grow into a valuable asset in the future if his impressive defensive performances continue and his market value continues to rise.