Sunderland have a growing number of players who look like they could net the club a big transfer sum one day.
Whilst Sunderland fans would be wary of seeing all their star players leave, the club looks set to run into some big money in the near future, and that money could prove vital in their fight for promotion.
Names like Jack Clarke look set to go for more than £20million, whilst academy graduates Anthony Patterson and Dan Neil could also net the club a sizeable windfall.
Other names have come into the transfer spotlight this season as well; centre-back Dan Ballard, and also midfielder Pierre Ekwah.
The Frenchman joined from West Ham in the 2023 January transfer window.
He’s had a hit and miss season so far but looks to be getting back to his best form under Michael Beale, after speculation ahead of January that he was wanted by all of Crystal Palace, Fulham, and Nottingham Forest.
Carlton Palmer tips Pierre Ekwah to stay at Sunderland
Ekwah has now featured 25 times in the Championship this season, scoring four goals; two of those goals have come in his last three appearances.
Ekwah has started every game under Beale and seems to be finding some consistency, playing a slightly more attacking role than before.
And discussing his future at the club, pundit and former player Carlton Palmer told Football League World:
“It’s difficult for the club. Sunderland, as we know, their remit is they buy young players, bring them in on the cheap and sell them at a huge profit.
“So, at the end of the day, we can’t look past any time now. If a club comes in and makes a massive offer for him in the summer, then of course Sunderland will sell.
“I think he will stay this summer, I don’t think any club will pay the money that Sunderland would be looking [for] to let him go right now.
“So, I think he’ll still be there, but he’s one for the future and I think he will be going for big money in the future, that is for sure.”
Ekwah is under contract at the Stadium of Light until 2027.
Why Ekwah could be more valuable than most right now
For Sunderland, Ekwah might be more important and therefore more valuable than most think.
With Neil also in demand, Ekwah then becomes one of the few midfielders at the club; should they both leave in the summer, Beale would be left with Callum Styles, Jobe Bellingham, and Elliot Embleton as the only under contract midfielders at the club.
What’s more is that Ekwah is a very powerful player whose traits perfectly fit the English game, and perhaps one day the Premier League, and with a newfound scoring touch to add to that, Ekwah all of a sudden looks like a very expensive player.
Like Palmer says though, it looks like Ekwah might stay beyond this summer, with Sunderland looking more likely to prioritise the sale of Clarke and unlikely to sell more than one or two of their big name players in the summer transfer window.
But Ekwah’s emergence is another huge credit to the club’s transfer acumen and scouting set up.
Up next for the Black Cats is a trip to Huddersfield Town in the Championship this evening.