One player currently out on loan from Sunderland has endured another defeat that saw his side slump four points adrift from safety.
Sunderland have many fringe players spending time away from the club this season, with varying degrees of success seen from the Wearside onlookers.
Midfielder Nectarios Triantis has been the standout performer of Sunderland’s loanees this season, with the youngster earning his first international call up as a result. Triantis has been impressive for Hibernian this term and his latest achievement came in Hibs’ historic win over Rangers.
Full-back Timothee Pembele has impressed of late at Le Havre and has seemingly rejuvenated his career whilst on loan in Ligue 1.
Loan fortunes have been very different however for Triantis’ fellow central-midfielder Pierre Ekwah in the French top flight. Ekwah finds himself in a relegation battle with St Etienne, and things have gone from bad to worse for the former West Ham youngster, after his relegation-threatened side suffered yet another blow.
Sunderland loanee Pierre Ekwah suffers latest low at St Etienne
Sunday afternoon saw Ekwah’s St Etienne lose 1-0 at former Sunderland head coach target Will Still’s RC Lens.
Ekwah’s loan outfit look destined for relegation back to the French second tier, sitting four points from guaranteed safety with six games left to go. St Etienne have taken only four points from their last five outings and prior to this weekend’s defeat, Ekwah and his side were hammered 6-1 by champions PSG.
Against Lens on Sunday, Ekwah played in the defensive midfield role of a three – much like Dan Neil does for Sunderland – but couldn’t assert any dominance over Lens. As per SofaScore, Ekwah made only 56 touches throughout the full 90 minutes, and yielded a passing accuracy of only 79% by misplacing over a fifth of his passes.
Ekwah was also ineffective without the ball, winning only three of his nine ground duels, giving away four fouls in the process. Ekwah did win both of his aerial duels and performed 11 defensive actions, but his efforts were not enough to defeat mid-table Lens, after Goduine Koyalipouos’ 75th-minute goal further cemented their likely impending demotion back down to Ligue 2.
Pierre Ekwah’s future at Sunderland is in doubt
Triantis and Ekwah are two central-midfielders sent out on loan by Sunderland to continue their development with starting chances limited, but have had drastically different seasons.
Triantis could feasibly be the Sunderland captain’s long-term replacement if any suitors swoop for his services this summer, with Italian giants Roma monitoring Neil.
Ekwah however, seems very unlikely to be in Regis Le Bris’ plans for next season, not helped at all if he comes back to Wearside having played his part in St Etienne’s relegation.
Ekwah has been tipped to depart Sunderland this summer, with his lack of intensity and aggression simply not a fit for how Le Bris has molded his Black Cats side. Ekwah’s technical prowess on the ball is undoubted, with the former Chelsea youngster’s brace against Southampton last season a perfect example of his ability to dominate games, when he wants to.
Unfortunately, he has yet to consistently show the aggression and bite required to sustain a long-term future in this Sunderland side.
Former boss Tony Mowbray long tried to drum this into the talented youngster. He previously said of Ekwah: “I want him a bit Roy Keane, I want him to be nasty, to put his foot in, and win every tackle because I know he has got everything else.”
The Black Cats’ midfield ranks are bursting with talented, but equally tenacious, stars such as Neil, Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg. With veteran Alan Browne on hand and Triantis returning from Hibs having been in stellar form north of the border, Ekwah will need to make a monumental improvement to his laidback style to force his way into contention next season.
Le Bris and Kristjaan Speakman will make a big call over Ekwah’s Wearside future this summer.