Sunderland transfer news: Serie A club launch bid to sign midfielder
Sunderland are fielding interest in a number of their key players this summer
Udinese have launched a bid for Sunderland midfielder Pierre Ekwah.
The Serie A side have contacted the Black Cats about a permanent deal for the 22-year-old, according to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano. Ekwah has three years to run on his current contract and so as with many of the players in the squad with interest from top-tier clubs, the club are in a strong position and would be under no pressure to sell. Their asking price would also be influenced by the fact that as part of the deal to bring him to the club, a sell-on clause was agreed that would leave West Ham United entitled to a significant portion of the fee.
Ekwah has been the subject of much interest since breaking into the first team after his move at West Ham in January 2023, with then head coach Tony Mowbray confirming that the club had knocked back a number of bids from European clubs on deadline day of the summer 2023 window.
Ekwah is currently with the Sunderland squad on their pre-season camp in Spain, and is expected to feature in this weekend’s friendlies against Nottingham Forest and CD Eldense.
Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman has previously stressed that the club are under no pressure to sell any assets this summer: “I think all I can say on player retention is that we've had a really strong record on that. Obviously, it was fantastic news with young Chris [Rigg] signing this week, I think that endorses and echoes everything we've been saying previously, and like I said, we'll just take every piece of interest or every discussion that happens along the way for what it is at that point in time. It's really, really difficult to predict, and I appreciate from a supporter's perspective, you want some certainty. I think the danger with the transfer window is it's always an uncertain period, but our intent and our objective has always been to retain our talent.”