Former West Ham midfielder Pierre Ekwah’s loan move to French side Saint Etienne from newly promoted Sunderland looks set to become a permanent transfer. As the Hammers had a sell on clause in the deal which saw him join Sunderland, they are set to earn a chunk of the transfer fee.

The 23 year old signed for West Ham back in the summer of 2021 from Chelsea. Ekwah was never afforded a first team opportunity during his time at West Ham but regularly featured at academy level during his 18 months at the club.

He joined Sunderland in January 2023 in search of regular first team football. Since joining the Black Cats, the French midfielder has gone on to make 61 appearances for the club, with his last outing for Sunderland coming in the Carabao Cup last summer.

At the start of the 2024/25 season, Ekwah joined French side Saint Etienne on loan for the season. Within that loan deal was a 6 million euro, which translates to a little over £5.1 million, option to make the loan deal a permanent transfer. During his time in France, Ekwah made 30 appearances in all competitions and scored 1 goal.

Based on data from the FotMob app, Ekwah had the highest average match rating of any Saint Etienne player last season, averaging a 7.16. Saint Etienne finished 17th out of 18 teams in Ligue 1, meaning they were relegated and will play their football in the French second tier next season.

The deal for Ekwah to join the French side is not official as of yet, however it looks set to be confirmed imminently. Chelsea had a 35% sell on clause in the deal which saw Ekwah join the Hammers, and West Ham inserted a 35% sell on clause in the deal that took Ekwah to Sunderland.

West Ham may earn themselves around £1.8 million from the fee of Ekwah’s impending move to Saint Etienne, however £630,000 of this would go to Chelsea meaning West Ham would pocket approximately £1.17 million.

The noise consistently coming from the Club’s hierarchy in recent weeks has been that West Ham need to sell to buy and that player sales will fund the Hammers transfer business this summer. That would suggest the money West Ham are likely to recieve from Ekwah’s move to France will be the first lot of funds added to the Club’s transfer kitty.

Hammers fans will not pay too much attention to this however, as if Sullivan and co’s claims are the reality then West Ham will not begin making any significant moves in the summer transfer window until a high profile name from the current first team squad is sold for a significantly larger fee.