Pierre Ekwah has explained the ‘crazy thing’ that has really impressed him at Sunderland.
Pierre Ekwah joined Sunderland on a permanent deal in January 2023, having absolutely zero experience in senior football prior.
The midfielder had made a handful of experiences for both West Ham and Chelsea’s youth teams, before he was thrown in at the deep end with the Black Cats.
Ekwah is now closing in on his 50th senior appearance for the club and established himself as a regular under both Tony Mowbray and Michael Beale.
Despite the Frenchman being linked with a move away in both the summer and January windows, he has spoken highly of Sunderland and how happy he is on Wearside.
He has occasionally come under criticism for his underwhelming performances this term, however that hasn’t stopped him from applauding the supporters and continuing to praise the club.
Speaking to Sunderland Echo about the fans, Ekwah said: “Playing for them is brilliant.
“You can’t really put it into words. All the time when it’s like 40,000, it was a surprise for me. Every game you are playing in front of 40,000 people and I just find it crazy and so good.
“When you have never been in those sorts of environments you don’t know, but as soon as you hear it. My first ever game here was Fulham in the cup. Before we played Fulham I was like ‘oh wow,’ so many people watching you. We went to Millwall on the weekend, so may people watching you. The noise is just crazy. If you can play here, where else can you not play.”
What has happened to Pierre Ekwah?
Pierre Ekwah certainly hasn’t been at the level he was at last season, however I’m not entirely sure that was his fault.
Due to our lack of squad depth in the middle of the park, the 22-year-old has often been asked to play further back than he would like to. When he has been given more freedom to move further forward, he has looked miles better.
Michael Beale made a majority of the players look pretty poor, so now we can just hope that Mike Dodds can get the best out of him again.
Ekwah clearly has bags of potential and his commitment and love for the club is undeniable. He is the exact kind of young professional that we want to help us get to the Premier League.