£6m Sunderland deal suddenly looks in doubt as manager is sacked with player keen on move

Even in an era of technical directors and recruitment experts, head coaches – take Regis Le Bris in the Sunderland hotseat, for instance – usually still retain a sense of control over who stays and who goes.

 

It emerged recently that it was Le Bris who blocked Cesar Huerta’s Sunderland switch.

Experts based on the other side of the Atlantic claim that the Pumas UNAM winger was supposed to join Liverpool before spending the 2024/25 campaign on loan at Sunderland.

 

Regis Le Bris put pay to that, however, maybe feeling that the Black Cats already had enough forwards and widemen.

 

Across the Channel, meanwhile, it remains to be seen what the departure of Olivier Dall’Oglio from St Etienne means for Pierre Ekwah’s hopes of securing a permanent switch to the Ligue 1 outfit.

Pierre Ekwah’s Sunderland future takes a twist at St Etienne

Sunderland loanee Ekwah is open to staying in France. He admitted as much in a very honest interview with Le Progres recently, admitting that he immediately felt ready to commit himself ‘for a long time’ to the St Etienne cause when arriving on a temporary basis back in August.

 

But as Dall’Oglio paid the price for a third successive Ligue 1 defeat – St Etienne slipped into the relegation zone after losing 2-1 at Toulouse – things might have suddenly become a little bit more complicated for Ekwah.

Le Bris, after rubber-stamping the deal which took Ekwah to Geoffroy Guichard Stadium on a loan-to-buy deal reportedly worth £6 million, expressed his delight that the West Ham academy graduate would be honing his talents under a man the Sunderland boss knows very well.