Sunderland chief warns off Leeds United amid £8m transfer interest and uncertain Jack Clarke future
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Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman intends to keep top players at the Stadium of Light but refused to be drawn into specifics, amid recent links between Leeds United and Trai Hume.
Leeds emerged as one of several teams to hold an interest in Hume last month, with The Belfast Telegraph naming them alongside Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Leicester City and Napoli as ‘admirers’. The versatile defender is thought to be valued at around £8million and a gap of more than 120 days without a permanent Sunderland manager increased speculation regarding potential exits.
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Hide AdThe Black Cats finally appointed Regis Le Bris as head coach last month and can now turn their focus on keeping hold of several in-demand players. Whether Leeds push forward with a move for Hume remains to be seen but while Speakman pointed to a strong track record of keeping talent at Sunderland, he refused to rule anything out when quizzed on more general transfer interest.
“I think it's really difficult to predict what will happen through the summer,” Speakman told The Northern Echo. “But I think all I can say on the player retention piece is that we've had a really strong record on that. I can't comment on the press stuff about specific names because I don't really accept it.
“I don't really have too much knowledge of what's out there, but he's (Bellingham) just one of a number of talented players we've got, and the backhanded compliment of having a talented group is there's going to be constant interest. As I've said before, I'd much rather get loads of interest in our talented players than be struggling to name talented players in our group. So, I don't want to go into the individual ins and outs because those things always can chop and change. But I can reiterate our strategy, and our intent is to retain our top talent.”
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Hide AdAn ever-present at Sunderland last season - he played in all 46 Championship matches and started all but one - Hume has proven to be one of the most important players at the Stadium of Light and any move for the Northern Ireland international would face stiff competition. Failure to achieve promotion last season could be the deciding factor for Leeds, with the versatile defender making no secret of his desire for top-tier football recently.
“I think I could play in the Premier League," Hume told the Belfast Telegraph last month. "You have to keep yourself at a high standard and you want to push yourself as much as you can. That’s the level I want to get to but I’m happy enough at Sunderland and happy where I’m at and I’m really enjoying my football. If a move happens, it happens and if doesn’t I’m happy to play for Sunderland.”
Hume is not the only Sunderland player attracting interest from elsewhere and the Black Cats, like Leeds, will face a challenge in keeping their top talent beyond the summer. Whites academy graduate Jack Clarke remains on the radar of Premier League teams, including West Ham, following a best-ever individual season. Former Leeds manager Simon Grayson mooted a potential return to Elland Road earlier this summer although no reports suggest such a move is likely.