Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman and head coach Tony Mowbray have built up a squad that is full of talented young prospects on Wearside.
The Black Cats have placed a clear focus on bringing in players who have the potential to develop and increase in value over the last few years.
They have tried to snap up young talents with upside in the hope that they will be able to improve under the manager and coaching staff's work on the training pitch and in matches in order to sell them on for a significant profit further down the line.
This was on full display over the summer transfer window as the club sold Ross Stewart to Championship rivals Southampton for a reported £12m package, which includes £8m up front.
Appearances
13
Goals
Ten
Assists
Three
Sofascore rating
7.40
They had signed him from Scottish side Ross County for a reported fee of £300k in January of 2021 and this means that his value soared by a whopping 3,900% in less than three years at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland will now be looking at their current crop of players to see who the next major sale could be and one player who is quickly moving up on the list is central midfielder Pierre Ekwah.
How much was Ekwah worth at West Ham?
The French prospect arrived from West Ham United during the January transfer window and FootballTransfers placed an Expected Transfer Value (xTV) of €65k (£52k) on his head at the time of the move.
Ekwah, who had joined the Hammers from Chelsea in 2021, caught the eye with his performances for the Premier League side at youth level and convinced the Black Cats that he was ready to make the step up to first-team level.
The midfield maestro racked up 39 appearances for West Ham's U21 team throughout his time at the London Stadium and was able to showcase his ability in and out of possession.
He produced nine goals and three assists in those matches and plundered an impressive five goals in 11 Premier League 2 outings during the first half of the 2022/23 campaign before his move to the Stadium of Light.
This showed that the central midfielder had the potential to offer an attacking threat from a midfield position as he has a knack for bursting forward to chip in with goal contributions at the top end of the pitch.
Ekwah also displayed his quality against senior opposition in three EFL Trophy appearances for West Ham in the first half of last season.
He averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.00 across three matches in the competition and contributed with two tackles and interceptions and two key passes per game, to go along with a duel success rate of 54%.
This showed, albeit in a small sample size, that the French talent could hold his own, physically, against professional players, and had the ability to provide quality on the ball by creating chances for his teammates.
How many appearances has Ekwah made for Sunderland?
The 21-year-old dynamo has made 25 first-team appearances for Sunderland since he made the move from West Ham earlier this year and has established himself as a regular for Mowbray as it stands.
However, it has not been an easy ride for the French talent throughout the year as he did not hit the ground running during the second half of the 2022/23 campaign.
It was his first experience of regular league football and Ekwah's performances lacked consistency. He averaged an unimpressive Sofascore rating of 6.57 across 14 Championship matches, five of which came as starts.
22 of his teammates averaged higher Sofascore ratings throughout the season and this suggests that he was considerably far away from being one of Mowbray's best performers last term.
However, the Sunderland head coach placed his faith in Ekwah at the start of the 2023/24 campaign and it is currently paying off for the former Blackburn boss.
The France U20 international, who was hailed as "vital" to the side by journalist Josh Bunting, has averaged a terrific Sofascore rating of 7.27 across six starts in the Championship, which is the fifth-best score within the squad.
This shows that he has gone from being one of the least impressive performers on Wearside to the point where the talented Frenchman is now one of the leading lights for the Black Cats as it stands.
Ekwah, who scored two goals in the 5-0 win over Southampton earlier this month, has caught the eye with his reliable passing and strong defensive play. He has completed 90% of his attempted passes and made three tackles and interceptions per game, as per Sofascore, which is the second-most of any player within the squad.
How much is Ekwah worth now?
At the time of writing (28/09/2023), FootballTransfers has the central midfielder's xTV at €3.4m (£2.9m) and this shows that his market value has rocketed up over the course of the year.
His xTV has increased by a staggering 5,032% from the initial €65k (£56.5k) that he was valued at when Sunderland swooped to sign him from West Ham at the start of the year.
Therefore, Mowbray has struck gold with the impressive youngster as he has developed into an impressive Championship midfield option for the head coach and his market value has reflected that.
The Black Cats boss has been able to turn Ekwah from an unproven U21 performer for the Hammers into a key cog in his first-team set-up at the Stadium of Light in less than a year, which is a credit to his coaching and management skills alongside the player's adaptability and willingness to learn.
Hopefully, he can continue to go from strength to strength and increase his xTV even further over the coming months and years. If his performances continue to catch the eye in the Championship then he could end up being the next Stewart to rake in a huge profit for the club if he attracts attention from elsewhere.
However, Sunderland may prefer him to be part of a promotion-winning side so that they can afford to keep hold of their top talents and then progress to the next level in the Premier League.