"Told me to go" – Sunderland man claims he was forced to accept Chelsea move, Black Cats helped him
03/28/2025 04:45 AM
On December 6th, Sunderland’s Pierre Ekwah stated his difficult spell at Chelsea helped him in his development.
Last summer, Sunderland allowed the 23-year-old to join AS Saint-Étienne on loan.
He has been speaking to Mordu2Sport on various topics, including his time at Sunderland and Chelsea, and Peuple Vert have relayed his comments.
The Frenchman spent a year at FC Nantes’ academy before they sold them to Chelsea in 2017. He was with the Blues for three years and then moved to West Ham United in 2021.
Sunderland signed the midfielder from the Hammers in January 2023 and he experienced first team football with the Black Cats.
The move to Chelsea saw him leave his country for the first time and this made it hard for him to adapt in England. Ekwah now claims that he was forced to join the Blues after they made an offer to Nantes.
“You have some great times at the academy, even if it was short. When Chelsea arrived, I was barely 17,” he said.
“They made an offer; you were 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.”
The Sunderland owned player claims at one point, he even considered quitting football and explains how he overcame the difficult situation.
“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,” Ekwah explained.
“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.”
Pierre Ekwah will hope he’s now provided himself with the grounding an experience to move forward with a successful career in the game.
The post "Told me to go" – Sunderland man claims he was forced to accept Chelsea move, Black Cats helped him appeared first on Sport Witness.
