Pierre Ekwah left Sunderland for St Etienne last summer because he could not turn down the chance to represent France’s second-most successful club.
Only Paris Saint-Germain have more Ligue 1 titles than Les Verts.
And while they are unlikely to add to their tally anytime soon – a newly-promoted outfit looking to avoid an immediate return to the second-tier these days – St Etienne’s ‘legendary status’ was enough to convince Pierre Ekwah to put pen to paper.
On that same August day, meanwhile, another Sunderland player upped sticks and headed across the Channel.
Timothe Pembele joined Le Havre on loan for the entirety of the 2024/25 season. But his reason for leaving the Stadium of Light was very different.
While Ekwah featured regularly for the Black Cats across the previous campaign, Pembele managed only eight Championship appearances.
He’s made seven already for Le Havre.
Timothee Pembele explains why he left Sunderland for Le Havre
Now, context is required here.
Pembele was ruled out of action during his first few months on Wearside with a knee injury. And, once he returned, the PSG academy graduate had the impressive Trai Hume for competition.
Yet, with Pembele back to full fitness in France and with confidence flowing through his veins again, the 22-year-old former France youth star is convinced that the decision he made when Le Havre came calling was the right one.
“I feel better and better, physically, psychologically,” Pembele tells the club’s official website. “It helps when you play one match after another. It is always a very good thing because it’s been a long time since I played so many matches.
“Maybe even two years! So, I’m happy that the coach, the staff, the players too, trust me.”
St Etienne can make Pierre Ekwah’s stay permanent for £6 million. Something the former West Ham United kid does not appear opposed to.
There is no option or obligation-to-buy clause in Pembele’s contract, however.
Director Kristjaan Speakman feels that he still has a future at the Stadium of Light, applauding the versatile right-back’s ‘vast potential’. For now, however, Pembele’s focus is solely on getting his careeer back on track, and helping Le Havre climb out of the bottom three.
The Sky and Navy club are 17th in an 18-team league following Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat by Strasbourg.
Abdoullah Ba recommended Ligue 1 return for PSG graduate
“I feel really good! It’s been a long time since I felt like this,” Pembele adds, explaining the role Sunderland teammate Abdoullah Ba – a former Le Haver player himself – played in his summer move.
“At Sunderland, Abdoullah Ba spoke very well of here. It was a club like that that I needed to rediscover the pleasure of playing football.
“It’s not that I had lost [my passion], but I was in a different mentality. I wasn’t playing, so there was no longer the same pleasure in going to training.
“I really didn’t think that HAC [Le Havre] would come and get me. I was in the English second division, I wasn’t playing, and I thought I would go back to Ligue 2.
“I have confidence in myself. I know that I have the ability to play in Ligue 1. But in today’s football, when a player doesn’t play, he is quickly forgotten.
“When my agent told me that Le Havre were after me, I said straight away; ‘Let’s go!’! I said to myself; ‘I’ll go, I’ll fight, and we’ll see what happens!'”