Ovie Ejaria is currently on loan at Sunderland and insists that he is getting the best out of his spell away from Liverpool. The 20-year-old joined the Black Cats in January and is currently attempting to help them avoid a second successive relegation.
Sunderland find themselves at rock bottom of the Championship table, having lost 10 of their last 15 matches. They are four points from safety with 9 games to go and the position is looking bleak at the moment.
However, Ejaria has settled in well so far, playing 5 times for Chris Coleman’s side. He still believes his loan spell at the Stadium of Light can end in a happy way.
“I played in FA Youth Cups, knocked out when I was in the Under-18s and it hurt, but that is nothing like I am experiencing now. This is the hardest I have been through and I have only been here since January, so it’s all about how you cope,” Ejaria told the Northern Echo.
“At Liverpool, at the beginning of the season, we were doing well with the 23s and sitting top of the league, winning loads, then I came here and it’s been a lot different, coming into a relegation battle.
“It’s a test mentally for anyone, definitely, particularly when you are young. Hopefully, we can turn it round because there are games left to achieve what we need to.
“Possibly it can still have a happy ending here for me. If we can get the wins until the end of the season then it will be one to look back on as a good experience. Even if it doesn’t go well between now and then it will still have been a big learning curve.”
Well-liked and highly-rated by Jurgen Klopp, Ejaria clearly took a massive gamble when he accepted the offer to join a relegation-battling team in January.
He was starring for the Reds’ Under-23s in their own fight for the Premier League 2 title and could have made an entry to senior side sooner than later but he chose to drop down to the Championship and test his skills.
Ahead of moving to the Wearside, the 20-year-old discussed things with his parents and manager Klopp before having a word with Sunderland boss Coleman as well. He had an idea that Sunderland are in a big mess and still wanted to take up the challenge.
“When I was growing up as a young player, playing for Arsenal before I moved to Liverpool (2014), I always knew Sunderland to be a Premier League club, so it’s quite crazy to see the position the club is in,” he added.
“Everyone knows Sunderland is as massive club, how it looks in the table now everyone will be shocked because of the situation and hopefully we can turn it round because none of us want this club to fall out of the Championship.”
The 20-year-old prodigy revealed that he opted to move to Sunderland after teammate Ben Woodburn waxed lyrical about former Wales manager Chris Coleman.
“I could have stayed at Liverpool,” Ejaria explained.
“Just the week before I came to Sunderland I was back up at Melwood training with the first team again. But the main thing for me is to develop as a player and experience playing senior football.
“I spoke to Ben Woodburn a little before I came here, I had seen what Chris Coleman had done with him at Wales. It is clear he is willing to give young players an opportunity. It was a big factor in coming here.
“I will benefit from this. If I keep doing my best then maybe we will get the points we need to stay up.”
It was a massive step taken by Ejaria in January to leave Anfield. Despite knowing Sunderland were at the wrong side of the table, the midfielder decided to join the Wearside club and if the club stays up, he would be proud of taking such a big gamble.
