Sunderland loanee midfielder makes Ligue 1 debut after seven-figure transfer move

Sunderland loanee Pierre Ekwah made his Ligue 1 debut on Friday for St Etienne in Ligue 1.

The former West Ham player started at the base of a three-man midfield and played the full 90 minutes plus stoppage time as ASSE defeated Lille by a single goal.

The 22-year-old Sunderland man 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 and was loaned to the French club last summer.

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 minute 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.”