New signing Pierre Ekwah will get the chance to showcase his talent at Sunderland according to his old West Ham teammate Aji Alese, following their reunion on Wearside. Midfielder Ekwah joined the Black Cats on a four-and-a-half year deal this week, with the 21-year-old following the same path that defender Alese trod in the summer when he left the Hammers for the North East.
The pair played in the same West Ham U23 side last season but left the London Stadium without making a first team appearance for David Moyes' team. Alese has quickly established himself as an important part of Tony Mowbray's team in the Championship, and he says the next challenge for Ekwah is to break into the side.
"In the West Ham U23 team last year, we had a lot of players that were potentially ready for first-team football," Alese told Sunderland's club website. "I suppose that's the next step in Pierre's career now, to break into and play in, a first team.
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"It's the same reason I joined in the summer - the young squad with a lot of potential, the philosophy of the club - we want to bring in and develop young players, which we've seen this season. Here will definitely be a good place for Pierre to showcase his talents."
Sunderland had been looking to add a midfielder this month, and Mowbray said earlier in the window that he was looking for a versatile player capable of playing the deep-lying role occupied by skipper Corry Evans but also able to operate further forward when needed. Alese said: "As a player I would say Pierre's very technical, but also strong off the ball as an athlete - tall, quick, and can move well.
"Athleticism is a part of the game which keeps getting bigger and more important, so those attributes he has can definitely help us. We played the whole of last season together, after he joined West Ham from Chelsea.
"It was only the one season, but we got on well on and off the pitch. I played left-side centre-half in the U23 team and he played left-side central midfield, so we combined a lot.
"We had a great relationship as teammates, and it's something that hopefully we can continue up here."
Ekwah's move was confirmed on Monday which should mean that he is eligible for Sunderland's FA Cup fourth round tie at Fulham on Saturday.
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