Dutch youth international Robin Roefs is set to sign for Premier League newcomers Sunderland after NEC and the Wearside team reached an agreement.
According to several sources, including Sky Sports and The Athletic, the 22-year-old Roefs will reportedly earn NEC a fixed fee of €10.5 million, a fee which could rise to €13.5 million via bonuses. Roefs will sign a five-year contract at Sunderland, who announced the statement signing of Bayer Leverkusen captain Granit Xhaka earlier on Wednesday.
Roefs broke into the first team during the 2023/24 season and took the starting spot before the 2024/25 season, in which he shone and became the starting goalkeeper for the Dutch U21 team at this summer's Under-21 European Championships.
The NEC standout joins Anthony Patterson, Blondy Nna Noukeu, and Simon Moore in Sunderland's goalkeeper room. Patterson started 44 of Sunderland's 46 games in the regular season and kept 14 clean sheets, considerably fewer than James Trafford (29) and Ilan Meslier (21) of fellow promoted sides Burnley and Leeds United.
Roefs is expected to finalise his transfer soon, with his medical exam scheduled for Wednesday.