Sunderland midfielder Pierre Ekwah in demand, but January move unlikely

Fulham, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest are reportedly set to battle it out for Sunderland midfielder Pierre Ekwah in January.

TEAMtalk report all three Premier League sides are tracking the 21-year-old, who Sunderland only signed a year ago from West Ham.

After a slow start, Ekwah started to show his quality towards the back end of last season and he carried that form over into the start of the current campaign too.

However, a thigh injury in the win at QPR in September appeared to hit his form, with former boss Tony Mowbray later admitting the Frenchman was not quite ‘up to speed’ after his return.

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However, Sunderland Nation understands that there is little chance of Ekwah leaving Wearside next month.

Due to the structure of the deal agreed with West Ham United last January, a significant sell-on clause of around 30% means Ekwah will need to command a sizable fee to make the deal worthwhile for Sunderland.

That appears to be unrealistic at the moment as Ekwah is yet to hit the required heights consistently enough, although the club do back themselves to get him there in time.

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There is also the fact that Sunderland’s midfield is currently short on numbers. Corry Evans is not expected back until the new year and there will be significant questions over what level he will return at given his age and severity of the knee injury he sustained in January.

Jay Matete is expected to be back soon for Sunderland, but it’s more likely that Sunderland will be looking to add to their central midfield numbers next month rather than reduce them.

You can never rule out a club putting in an enormous offer for Ekwah and the situation changing, but a 'quick flip' type move is unlikely to tempt Sunderland into selling.

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