'Hard facts' - Kristjaan Speakman explains seven-figure loan fee Sunderland transfer departure
The midfielder was allowed to leave Sunderland on loan during last month’s transfer deadline day drama
Kristjaan Speakman has revealed his thought process behind Pierre Ekwah’s loan move to France.
The 22-year-old made significant progress since joining from West Ham United without a senior appearance but was facing a major challenge to fight his way into the side this season.
Sunderland sanctioned his departure to Ligue 1 on deadline day with Saint Etienne holding the option to make the deal permanent next summer for a cost reported in the French media to be in the region of £6million, while The Echo understands there is also a seven-figure loan fee attached to the deal.
“Pierre's got three years left on his contract and look at the minutes not in the team is the hard facts on it,” Speakman said when asked about Ekwah’s departure by The Echo. “We were just trying to work out what was the best next step for him.
“There were a number of opportunities that came up, one of which was Saint Etienne. I think it was a significant loan offer, gave him an opportunity to play in a different environment, in a different league and enabled us to be able to keep him playing regularly, which arguably he might not have done maybe in the first opening sequence of the season.
“Because with his injury, he just ended up being a little bit further down in the selection order. For us, it was a good opportunity and freed up another midfield space for us to bring a different type of player in with Salis (Abdul Samed) and Milan (Aleksic). It was just around us composing what we feel is the right squad for the upcoming season.”