Grading Sunderland’s 25/26 Recruitment, Part One!

If Peter Reid opted to think outside of the box when he snapped up Thomas Sorensen in 1998 and Roy Keane made a statement of intent when he brought Scottish international Craig Gordon south from Tynecastle in 2007, one wonders just what kind of witchcraft was at play when we signed the commanding Dutchman from NEC Nijmegen after a summer chase that involved such names as Marcin Bułka and Djordje Petrovic .

Simply put, the £12 million we shelled out for Roefs has proven to be one of the most agreeable fees we’ve spent on any player in recent times, with the young stopper fitting in seamlessly, bringing a calm sense of authority to a key position and showing Premier League potential and ability in spades.

During his early months in particular, he collected crosses like football enthusiasts snap up Panini stickers, prowling around his penalty area with menace and standing up to whatever opponents could throw at him —and his vocal nature is in stark contrast to the quieter and less authoritative style of Anthony Patterson .

By no means the finished article, Roefs has nevertheless been an utterly inspired purchase — his point-blank stop from Jake O’Brien at the Hill Dickinson proving vital in the chase for continental football — and let’s hope we can keep him on Wearside for one more season at least.

A goalkeeper of such talent deserves a European campaign to sit alongside what’ll hopefully be another influential season at domestic level. A real find.

The highly-rated Swedish prospect and Max Verstappen lookalike arrived in January and to say that he experienced a memorable introduction to life on Wearside is to downplay it somewhat.

A clean sheet at Elland Road sat alongside an embarrassing defeat to Port Vale in the FA Cup — during which the greatest Sunderland own goal of all time was almost scored — as well as a tough twenty minutes against Newcastle (from which he recovered admirably to play a part in a famous victory) and a frustrating home loss to Brighton .

However, he showed enormous strength of character and ought to be a more than capable deputy for Roefs next season — the Sunderland goalkeeping ranks looking increasingly strong with Matty Young’s development catching the eye as well.