Sunderland star talks about his meetings with head coach Michael Beale during his first season at Sunderland, amid transfer ties between Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace

Despite rumors of interest from other places, Pierre Ekwah thinks Sunderland is the ideal location for his growth and that he is truly loving life on Wearside.

The 22-year-old midfielder, who played for West Ham’s under-21 squad before joining the Black Cats just over a year ago, has established himself as a mainstay in the starting lineup at the Stadium of Light.

After an outstanding finish to the previous season, Ekwah attracted interest from Sunderland last summer, although Premier League teams like Nottingham and Crystal Palace are said to have been interested in him as well.
Ekwah is nevertheless appreciative of the chances he has had on Wearside. He replied to the Echo, “Oh yeah, 100%,” when asked if he still thinks it’s the greatest environment for his development. I’m pleased here, as I mentioned when we last spoke. It’s the ideal location for my personal and football-related growth. There are definitely a lot of people having fun out there, and I’m certainly having a great time.

Under Michael Beale, who was appointed at the end of December, Ekwah has returned to a more advanced midfield role. The Frenchman says he’s enjoyed talking with Beale about tactical information and past experiences following an eventful year in the North East. “We were talking about my past and all this, about where I’ve been and things like that,” Ekwah said in response to a question about his conversations with Beale. “When the new gaffer came in he introduced himself and at the same time we introduced ourselves to him. Knowing the background of everyone I think is great and he’s done a great gesture and I appreciate that.”

When asked what he had learned in the previous year, Ekwah replied, “A lot,” with a radiant smile. I started off as an under-21 player for West Ham. In front of forty thousand people, can you pull it off? Simple tiny things such as that. It might take me an hour or two to sit here and tell you all I’ve learned, but I have definitely learned a lot.

“I believe you can see that with every game I make, I’m attempting to create something new. You get new knowledge when you work with different coaches for your progress. Without a certain, Michael Beale, the gaffer, is teaching me something new right now.

In little than a year, he progressed from the 21s to the Championship and the Play-offs, he continued. Now that I’m playing every week, it goes without saying that you need to be prepared at all times because the season is difficult and long. Numerous games are available.

As we’ve seen, you really can’t become complacent when chasing because you have to be on your game all the time. The other teams will be and they will run you down if you are not. All you need to do is put forth constant effort. Since that is obviously what I wanted, it is obviously a pleasure to play for this club and play every week.