Pierre Ekwah is Sunderland's first arrival of January, signing a four-an-a-half year deal on Wearside from West Ham.
The French midfielder is 21 years old and spent three years at the renowned INF Clairefontaine national academy, whose graduates include FIFA World Cup winners Thierry Henry, Blaise Matuidi, Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappé.
More recently though he was a youth player at the London Stadium, and has scored nine goals and assisted three times in 39 Under-21 appearances for the Hammers. His time at West Ham overlapped with Aji Alese, who will be a familiar face for Ekwah on Wearside now.
A France Under-20 international, Ekwah will wear the number 39 shirt and is expected to be available for Sunderland's FA Cup trip to Fulham on Saturday.
Ekwah said: “The history and vision of the Club really attracted me and I’m delighted to be here. I see myself as a number eight who can handle the ball well, but I can also do the defensive side of the game. It’s great to see the Club trusting young players and that’s something that really appealed to me – it seems a great environment for me to develop as both a person and a player, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Tony Mowbray added: “We are delighted to get the deal done and welcome Pierre to Sunderland. He is a player we have been monitoring for some time, and we believe he will add something different to the dynamic of our midfield. Having met him, he has a brilliant personality – he wants to get better and show he can play first-team football. He brings a level of physicality and we’re really looking forward to working with him.”
