Sunderland loaned out French midfielder Pierre Ekwah last summer. Since, the former West Ham man has endured a rather mixed loan spell with St Etienne in Ligue 1.
Going into last season, it looked like Pierre Ekwah was going to take the Championship by storm. He’d shown in his first half-season at the Stadium of Light that he was a player with great potential, and a midfielder with all the attributes needed to flourish in the Championship.
But on the whole, Ekwah was a big disappointment in his first full season in the Championship with Sunderland. The 23-year-old played 40 games in the second tier, scoring five goals and grabbing two assists.
Nonetheless, it was still rather surprising that he was loaned out to St Etienne for this season. Since, he’s featured 19 times in Ligue 1, scoring once, but Etienne are struggling right now currently sitting in the relegation zone with 11 games left to play.
Ekwah’s form at St Etienne has been questioned by some pundits, especially of late. The Greens have a reported £6million option to buy Ekwah in the summer.
Pierre Ekwah discusses Sunderland future amid St Etienne struggles
Speaking to French outlet BUT! Football Club recently, Ekwah discussed his future beyond this season, with his current predicament looking very uncertain amid what is now a relegation battle for St Etienne, who’ve not win in seven Ligue 1 games.
Ekwah explained: “The main thing is to get out of this complicated situation and ensure the club’s survival. My goal is to raise my level of play, to perform better and to better serve the team. My personal case, I really put it aside.”
Things are going from bad to worse for St Etienne this season. Last time out, they drew 3-3 at home to Angers, but in the game before that they were thumped 5-1 at Marseille, having lost 4-1 at Lille at the start of February too.
When does Pierre Ekwah’s Sunderland contract expire?
Right now, it looks like Ekwah will be returning to Wearside in the summer with Etienne unlikely to fork out £6million for a player who’s not impressed all that much this season, especially should they be relegated from the French top flight.
Upon returning to Regis Le Bris’ side, all involved will have a difficult decision to make. But expect Le Bris to want to take an initial look at Ekwah and see how he’s developed over the course of this season.
Ekwah remains under contract at Sunderland until 2027 and so there’s still time for him to potentially prevail in a Sunderland shirt. How likely that is after a difficult season in France remains to be seen.