A journalist has claimed that rumours of Crystal Palace’s interest in a Sunderland star are false.
Sunderland’s exceptional first season led to huge interest in a number of their players over the summer, but they have so far managed to lose only Ross Stewart – who is now sidelined for the rest of the season.
While the Black Cats’ main concern is losing Jack Clarke, there has also been rumours of three Premier League clubs targeting Pierre Ekwah in January.
TEAMtalk have reported that Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Fulham have all shown ‘serious’ interest in the Frenchman, who left the top flight to join Sunderland in January.
It seems very unlikely that Michael Beale‘s side would be willing to sell Ekwah given their lack of midfield options, while the report also claims that West Ham would also be due some of the fee received anyway.
Thankfully, journalist Alan Nixon has now claimed that there is no true in Crystal Palace’s interest ‘at this stage’.
It’s unclear whether the other two Premier League clubs are still chasing Ekwah, but the Eagles’ omission is one less worry for Sunderland.
Crystal Palace could have been a very tempting offer for Ekwah, who had spent five years in London prior to his move north.
Selhurst Park is also a very promising destination to end up for promising youngsters, with the likes of Michael Olise, Tyrick Mitchell and Marc Guehi all reaping the rewards.
Should Sunderland sell Pierre Ekwah?
Pierre Ekwah still has three and a half years remaining on his contract at the Stadium of Light and still has the potential to become a very important player.
The midfielder has been extremely poor since coming back from injury, but I think it would be a bit silly of Sunderland to offload him so soon – especially given our squad depth.
While Jay Matete is set to return and Sunderland seem highly likely to delve into the transfer market for another midfielder, offloading Ekwah would only weaken our options.
The Black Cats already face a tough task keeping their squad together and Ekwah is one player that needs to stay amongst the ranks on Wearside.
Hopefully some new arrivals to the team will help the 21-year-old find some form, as his position isn’t particularly challenged at the moment. Though he did show some flashes of his old self against Hull City, so perhaps Michael Beale has begun to realise that he isn’t made to sit further back.