Wolves weighing up double Sunderland AFC transfer raid | OneFootball

Dennis Cirkin and Trai Hume have each been linked to the Molineux outfit

Sunderland duo Dennis Cirkin and Trai Hume are on the radar of Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window, according to a new report.

The Black Cats were in the race for automatic promotion from the Championship at the start of the campaign, but despite falling away from the top two, they have been able to secure a place in the play-offs and are now preparing to take on Coventry City in the first-leg on Friday evening.

Regis Le Bris has built an impressive core of young, talented players who will undoubtedly fetch some sizeable transfer fees when they are sold on from the Wearside club soon, but Sunderland will hope that is not this summer if they are able to seal promotion at Wembley later this month.

They could face a fight to keep hold of their two first-choice full-backs in Cirkin and Hume this summer, especially if they do not go up, with Wolves reportedly plotting moves for both players.

Wolves keeping tabs on Dennis Cirkin and Trai Hume ahead of the summer window

Left-back Cirkin is nearing the end of his fourth season as a Sunderland player now, after he joined the club from Spurs while they were still in League One, and his development has been clear to see from a player who had no first-team experience in North London, to being one of the most highly-rated young full-backs in the Football League right now.

Hume also signed for the club while they were in the third-tier, in January 2022, and he has similarly established himself in the Black Cats' starting eleven over the last few seasons. He plays on the opposite flank to Cirkin, at right-back, and is a full Northern Ireland international with 20 caps for his country.

Both players have been one of the best in their position in the Championship this season, so it is no wonder that they have each attracted transfer attention ahead of the summer window.

According to Molineux News, via reporter Graeme Bailey, Wolves have shortlisted both Cirkin and Hume as targets for this summer as boss Vitor Pereira plans an overhaul of his squad to aim for a top-half Premier League finish next season.

They state that Wolves are one of several teams that have been watching Cirkin, while they are doing the groundwork for signing both him and teammate Hume this summer.

Sunderland will struggle to keep both Cirkin and Hume if they do not win promotion

It is always tough for any team in the second-tier to keep hold of their best players year-on-year, especially one that performs well and gets into the play-offs but then falls short at the final hurdle.

Sunderland finished fourth in the Championship this season, but ended the campaign in poor form with five straight defeats, so they are in danger of potentially carrying that into their semi-finals with Coventry and missing out on a place at Wembley altogether.

It promises to be a summer of change at the Stadium of Light regardless of the club's league status, with players like Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg attracting high-profile suitors and possibly set to depart if they remain in the Championship, while numerous new signings would have to be made if Le Bris was to lead them to play-off glory and back to the top-flight.

Everyone connected to the club will undoubtedly want to keep hold of both Cirkin and Hume in the coming months, but it would seem likely that at least one of their flying full-backs leaves if they do remain in the second-tier, in the face of this new interest from Wolves.