Why Sunderland have laughed all the way to the bank with £5m Pierre Ekwah sale
Sunderland moved on a number of fringe players following their promotion to the Premier League last summer.
Patrick Roberts, Nazariy Rusyn, Alan Browne and Jenson Seelt were among a host of players allowed to leave the Stadium of Light in this season’s summer transfer window.
Another one of those was midfielder Pierre Ekwah, after French side Saint-Etienne triggered their reported £5million option to buy him following his loan spell with them.
Indeed, Ekwah made 30 appearances for Saint-Etienne in Ligue 1 in 2024-25, but couldn’t prevent them from finishing 17th and subsequently being relegated to Ligue 2 for this season.
How has Pierre Ekwah been doing for Saint-Etienne?
However, straight after his permanent move to Saint-Etienne was confirmed, reports began to emerge that Ekwah was refusing to train with them following their relegation to the French second tier.
As such, he didn’t make a single appearance for Les Verts during the first half of the 2025-26 season, with the team now currently sitting second and in an automatic promotion place in Ligue 2.
But, in a last-minute deadline day deal in the recent winter transfer window, Ekwah sealed a loan switch back to these shores, joining Championship outfit Watford on loan for the remainder of the season.
Evidently willing to get rid of him already, Saint-Etienne included an option for Watford to buy him this summer, which will surely be considerably less than the £5m they paid Sunderland to sign him.
The 24-year-old has only been faring slightly better at Vicarage Road too, having made just three Championship appearances for the Hornets so far this season.
All of those have come from the substitutes bench, culminating in just 39 minutes of second tier action so far, with Watford surely unlikely at this stage to be willing to trigger their permanent option for him.
Ekwah could be stuck at Saint-Etienne
If Watford don’t take up that purchase option on Ekwah, then he will have to return to Saint-Etienne this summer with his tail between his legs.
Regardless of whether they win promotion to Ligue 1 or remain in Ligue 2 for the 2026-27 season, the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes-based side will surely have no place nor time for him in their squad.
In that case, Ekwah may well find himself well and truly stuck out in the Saint-Etienne cold, as his signature likely won’t be a highly-coveted one given his lack of gametime, and with his reported refusal to train unlikely to go down well either.
Sunderland won’t care one bit though, as the £5m they banked for him last summer looks like a superb deal given his career trajectory since leaving Wearside.
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