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Pierre Ekwah has been speaking about his first experiences in the English game.
Sunderland midfielder Pierre Ekwah has revealed that he had “had enough” of football following the “huge shock” of his transfer to Premier League giants Chelsea as a teenager.
The 23-year-old is currently out on loan at French outfit Saint-Etienne, but started his career with fellow Ligue 1 side FC Nantes, and was a highly-regarded member of their youth academy before sealing a switch to Stamford Bridge in 2018. At the time, Ekwah had only just turned 17, and while he never made a senior appearance for Chelsea before moving to West Ham in 2021, he has since opened up on the pressures that his time in West London exposed him to.
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What did Sunderland midfielder Pierre Ekwah say about his time with Chelsea?
Speaking in an interview with Mordu2Sport, as relayed by Peuple Vert, Ekwah said: “When Chelsea arrived, I was barely 17. They made an offer; I was 16 and Nantes told me to go. It’s complicated to refuse. I was told to go. I went through with the transfer. It wasn’t what I wanted. But I did it. It’s not serious, but I’d only been at Nantes for a year.
“When I arrived in London, I was alone, I didn’t speak the language. No friends, no landmarks. I’d just adapted to life far from Paris, and then, boom, another country. It was a huge shock. I didn’t even know where I was going. It was complicated. Frankly, it turned me upside down at the age of 16.”
He continued: “When I arrived, there was no difference in level. I was well-received. I arrived with a great host family. After three years of playing football, it was complicated because I didn’t play much. I gave it my all, I thought I could at least play with the academy. It was tough.
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“I’d had enough of football. I said to myself: ‘Oh yeah, if this is football…’. I’d had a hard time with the transfer. The football of the big boys hit me in the face. They send you there, and once you’re there, it’s every man for himself. I wasn’t ready for that.
“I thought about quitting. Saying to myself: ‘I’m going back, I’m going back to school, I’m going back to my friends, I’m going to live a normal life’. But football is my life. And I managed to get back on my feet. Thanks to the people around me, I clung on to my goals. I said to myself: ‘If I give up now, I’ll have to start all over again’.”
Ekwah would eventually make a name for himself in the senior game after having signed for Sunderland in January 2023. During his time at the Stadium of Light, he registered 61 appearances in the heart of midfield, scoring five goals and assisting two more.
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