AJI Alese is delighted to have been reunited with Pierre Ekwah at Sunderland - and says his close friend wants to follow in his footsteps after joining from West Ham.

The pair spent a year together with the Hammers last season before Alese made the switch to Wearside in the summer, quickly establishing himself at the Stadium of Light.

The defender joined Sunderland because he felt ready to play first team football, as is the case with new signing Ekwah, who is available to make his debut at Fulham this weekend.

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“In the West Ham Under-23 team last year, we had a lot of players that were potentially ready for first-team football," says Alese.

“I suppose that’s the next step in Pierre’s career now, to break in and play in a first team.

“It’s the same reason I joined in the summer – the young squad with a lot of potential, the philosophy of the club – we want to bring in and develop young players, which we’ve seen this season. Here will definitely be a good place for Pierre to showcase his talents.”

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Alese and Ekwah played in the same West Ham Under-23s team 21 times last season so the former knows what Sunderland fans can expect from the new recruit.

He told the club website: “As a player I would say Pierre’s very technical, but also strong off the ball as an athlete – tall, quick, and can move well.

“Athleticism is a part of the game which keeps getting bigger and more important, so those attributes he has can definitely help us.

“We played the whole of last season together, after he joined West Ham from Chelsea.

“It was only the one season, but we got on well on and off the pitch. I played left-side centre-half in the U23 team and he played left-side central midfield, so we combined a lot.

“We had a great relationship as teammates, and it’s something that hopefully we can continue up here.”