DYNAMIC STAR CAN REACH TOP

French youngster has complete game

- Chris Dunlavy

SUNDERLAND have performed admirably without the injured Pierre Ekwah recently, but it is a mark of the young Frenchman’s class that he will almost certainly walk straight back into Tony Mowbray’s starting XI when he’s fit again.

Signed from West Ham’s under-23 side on a conditional free transfer in January, the 21-year-old was lightly raced last season.

Though he featured 18 times as the Black Cats reached the play-off semi-finals, just seven of those were starts, with Mowbray concerned that Ekwah did not yet have enough muscle on his imposing 6ft 2ins frame.

“The boy hadn’t played a minute of professional football before we signed him,” explained the former Celtic, Middlesbrough and Blackburn boss. “Physically, he’s not quite there. But I keep telling him that if he can develop that aspect of his game then what a footballer we’ve got because he can do amazing things with his feet.”

Fast forward nine months and those worries are ancient history. Physically and technically, Ekwah has already developed into one of the most complete midfielders in the Championship, and is a key cog in Sunderland’s promotion-chasing machine.

Deeper