Sunderland’s determination in the summer saw them secure Robin Roefs ahead of the likes of West Ham United.
That’s according to Trouw. They cover the Sunderland star today and comments from NEC Nijmegen technical director Carlos Aalbers.
Roefs joined Sunderland in a €10.5m deal in the summer. It was one of the smaller, low-cost deals in a big summer for the Black Cats. But it has proven to be one of their best.
He quickly established himself as the number one at the Stadium of Light and has been worthy of that status ever since. He currently boasts the best save percentage in the Premier League after facing 100 shots. His total puts him ahead of the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma and Alisson Becker. He’s also kept an impressive seven clean sheets.
The Dutchman is very much one of the signings of the season. Sunderland would probably argue that he’s one of the bargains of the century.
His rise has certainly been a surprising one. Few would have predicted that a goalkeeper who cost €10.5m and was relatively unknown would perform to this level.
According to Aalbers, though, Sunderland were convinced. So much so that they ended up moving ahead of the likes of West Ham to get him.
“In the second half of the season and at the European Championship with the Dutch U21s, he caught the attention of clubs like Sunderland, West Ham United, and Napoli,” he said.
“Sunderland wanted to give him a chance as their first-choice goalkeeper right away, while other clubs preferred him for competitiveness and a future perspective.”
“We saw his potential for a few years and offered him a competitive price. Sunderland were very determined.”
