
Born on this day in 2002 in Massy, France is current Sunderland midfielder Pierre Ekwah. Pierre has so far played for the Lads 61 times since signing from West Ham United in January 2023. He is currently playing his football on loan at Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne.
Ekwah began his career playing for several amateur sides in France. Starting at the age of seven he turned out for RC Arpajonnais until 2011, then Bretigny FCS until 2016 and finally CFF Paris for a year.
His first professional club was Nantes who he played youth football with for one season. During his time here he made his debut for France U16s and he would eventually earn 13 caps at this level. Ekwah clearly impressed in Western France as he was picked up by Premier League giants Chelsea for a fee of €2 million, an impressive figure for a 16 year old.
He never set the world alight at Chelsea though, making just 30 appearances between the U18 and U23 teams across his three year spell with the Blues.
Probably seeking more game time, the now 19 year old stayed within London but moved to West Ham in 2021 for a lower fee of €1.4 million. Minutes became more plentiful and he became a regular for West Ham U21s. Still, he never managed to break into the first team, although his time with the Hammers coincided with them having a squad good enough to qualify for European competitions, so that was always going to be a tall order. The only taste of senior football he got was playing against men’s teams in the EFL Trophy, featuring on the bench against Norwich in the Premier League and doing the same in the Europa Conference League qualifiers.
With the player then being 21 years old, playing youth football would no longer help him develop his game as much as he would like so regular minutes in a senior team would be needed. Naturally then, he made the smart decision to drop down a league and come to Championship Sunderland.
At the time we were sitting in 9th place having just beaten Middlesbrough 2-0 at the SoL just one day before his arrival. That meant we were just one point away from the top six. If all went well he could be a Premier League player again in the space of just a few months and for a fee of precisely £0 (although there are costs we have paid/may have to pay later plus a sell-on clause in his contract) it was a smart move for both parties. Of course, we didn’t end up getting promoted but we weren’t that far off. In the long term, the recruitment strategy at Sunderland was (and still very much is) focused on young, developing talent so minutes wouldn’t be hard to come by for the youngster.
He was immediately thrown into the deep end by Mowbray, as he came off the bench with Sunderland desperately holding onto a 1-1 draw away to Fulham in the FA Cup, who at the time were a very good top-half Premier League side. We did hold on in the end and take it to a replay but before the rematch, he got a first taste of Championship action away to Millwall off the bench where we came away with a solid point.
Ekwah looked to have moments of quality but appeared to be a rather shaky player, still clearly adapting to senior football and the competitiveness of the Championship. Despite this he was handed a start away to Burnley, who were by far and away the best team in the Championship. Playing over an hour of the game, the Frenchman helped Sunderland come away with a fantastic clean sheet in a 0-0 draw. After this he made an infamous error at home to Hull, we were 4-3 up with seconds left on the clock and his inexperience showed when he gave away a penalty. The visitors took this chance and the game finished 4-4.
There were, of course, calls for him to be dropped but Mowbray persisted with him and after this he was a much better player, starting four of our remaining six games of the Championship season as we made a late break into the top six. His good form also meant he did not miss a minute as our injury-ravaged side were just about beaten by Luton Town 3-2 on aggregate in the play off semi finals.
In 2023-24 he became a regular feature in the team despite three different head coaches throughout the campaign. Ekwah managed 42 games out of our 48 competitive matches and, had it not been for injuries, it probably would have been more. Highlights included a brace with two long range efforts in a 5-0 win versus Southampton and a winner away to West Brom. Of course, he did make one high profile error when he was dispossessed on the edge of the box in the Wear-Tyne derby, allowing the away side to double their advantage.
Owing to fears over how much game time he was likely to get this season, after one appearance in the League Cup he was sent out on loan to his home country of France with top flight Saint-Etienne. Admittedly, I don't watch any French football but just going off the praise he is getting online from their fans, the fact his adoptive club are considering activating an option to buy clause in his deal and the statistics, it seems like he's been one fo their best players so far. At the time of writing, the midfielder has played 14 matches for Les Verts as they battle relegation. If they do survive, I can easily see him making a permanent switch to France. If they get relegated then it's a bit up in the air in terms of his Sunderland future because it really depends what league we end up in.