Northern Ireland boss O'Neill says he tried to sign Sunderland man at Stoke City

Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill says he tried to sign Sunderland's Trai Hume for Stoke City in the past.

The international break is upon us and there's several Sunderland players heading out, with two of them in Dan Ballard and Hume on duty with Northern Ireland.

And speaking ahead of games against Slovenia and Kazakhstan, former Stoke City boss and now Northern Ireland manager O'Neill has revealed that he tried to sign Hume during his time at the bet365 Stadium.

He's quoted as saying:

“I think he has done brilliantly. We did try to sign Trai when I was at Stoke, but we were a bit late to the party and he was well down the road to Sunderland. He made the right decision on that.”

Sunderland signed the 21-year-old from Linfield in his native Northern Ireland in January 2022.

He's since made 42 total appearances for the Black Cats with 28 of those coming in the Championship last season and five in this current campaign.

Last time round. Hume often played at centre-back, filing in amid a wave of injuries and eventually asserting his place in the starting XI with a string of solid performances.

Another solid signing...

It looks like Sunderland beat Stoke City to a very good player in Hume.

He's steadily become an important player for the Black Cats, with his performances last season highlighting his versatility at the back.

And for Hume, it's been a whirlwind year-and-a-half, leaving Northern Ireland for the Football League and now finding himself in O'Neill's national side.

Hume looks set to play another important role this season, with the addition of several defenders this summer bound to push on the former Linfield man.

Another solid signing...

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