Sunderland have loaned out a number of players in 2024/25. Some are performing relatively well, but others not so much.
In the January transfer window, Sunderland completed loan exits for Nazariy Rusyn, Adil Aouchiche, Nathan Bishop and Abdoullah Ba, adding to the number of players who left the Stadium of Light on loan last summer.
Since, Portsmouth fans have been impressed by Aouchiche who’s now featured three times in the Championship, albeit without starting a game, whilst Rusyn grabbed an assist on his Hajduk Split debut earlier in February.
Elsewhere, the likes of Nectarios Triantis continues to shine at Hibernian in what is a second-straight loan spell with the Scottish club, as the Australian midfielder gives Regis Le Bris something to think about ahead of next season.
However, the same can’t be said of Pierre Ekwah. The Frenchman is on loan at St Etienne, and at first he seemed to be impressing. But he’s since been handed a rather damning review of his season so far in Ligue 1, where St Etienne sit in the drop zone.
Journalist tears into Sunderland’s Pierre Ekwah after ‘monotone’ performances
During the January transfer window, St Etienne signed Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Maxime Bernauer on loan for the remainder of the season. French journalist Laurent Hass has since been discussing where he fit into the system at Etienne and he’s suggested dropping Ekwah.
Hass wrote for But! Football Club in France: “I have trouble understanding how Pierre Ekwah can start from start to finish without any questioning, when the team is not rotating, it is conceding a lot of goals, and the performances of the player on loan from Sunderland are often disappointing. I find that Ekwah lacks consistency, speed, and that he is monotone in what he does, always at the same pace.”
So far in 2024/25, the 23-year-old Ekwah has featured 18 times in Ligue 1 for St Etienne, without claiming a goal or an assist. Etienne have a £6million option to buy Ekwah in the summer, though whether or not they trigger that option could depend on whether or not they’re relegated.
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Pierre Ekwah not in Sunderland’s future plans
Recently, Sunderland AFC News caught up with transfer expert Graeme Bailey who shared the latest on Ekwah’s future on Wearside.
And Bailey explained that Ekwah is not in Sunderland’s plans for the future, as things stand anyway, saying: “It’s up to the player and the club. If the player wants to go then there’s not much Sunderland can do about it. I don’t really think they see him as part of the future, from what I’m told.”
With Ekwah failing to impress at Etienne anymore, despite what was a strong start earlier in the season, Sunderland could look to find him a new, permanent home in the summer transfer window.