Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs has been speaking about Brian Brobbey

Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs has claimed that the Black Cats could “hardly do without” compatriot Brian Brobbey following his summer arrival at the Stadium of Light.

The powerful Dutchman signed for the Premier League new boys from boyhood club Ajax on deadline day, and after a relatively modest start to life in England, has gone on to establish himself as a key presence for Regis Le Bris’ side.

At the time of writing, Brobbey is Sunderland’s top scorer this season, netting five goals in the top flight, and having supplanted Wilson Isidor at the point of attack, the 24-year-old has now started 10 of the Black Cats’ last 11 league outings.

The forward’s performances have not gone unnoticed either, with plenty of pundits hailing him for his domineering displays in red and white, and reports in Turkey suggesting that Super Lig giants Fenerbahce are plotting an audacious transfer raid to prise him away from Wearside.

But in a fresh interview with Viaplay, as quoted by Voetbal Primeur, Roefs has suggested that Brobbey is much too valuable an asset for Sunderland to sanction his departure any time soon. The Black Cats number one said: "If you're unsure, you shoot the ball forward and he holds them all, or he heads it on, or he runs after it, so that's nice.

"I think he's shown what he can do at Ajax for years. Maybe it didn't always come out there. Now with even better players around him and the style of play that perhaps really suits him. He's so important to us, and I think we can hardly do without him."

What has Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris said about Brian Brobbey?

Speaking about Brobbey in the aftermath of Monday night’s 3-0 victory over Burnley at the Stadium of Light - a game in which the striker once again impressed with a dominant physical display - Sunderland head coach Le Bris said: “Brian is getting better.

“I think game after game you can see how strong he is in this part of the pitch. I think his teammates now want to play with him, want to feed him. When we get pressed man for man, for example, we still have this option to go long, then we can support and we can break the press. So it was really important today. He could have scored, maybe once or twice, but he worked really hard.”

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What else has been said about Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey?

Elsewhere, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was quick to praise Brobbey in the aftermath of his winning goal during Sunderland’s recent 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.

The ex-Liverpool icon said: “The thing that's really interesting from a defender's point of view is that when you think of defenders, it's like, ‘Get tight, be aggressive with the attacker’. When you're playing against someone like that [Brobbey], he's trying to mark you. So even as a defender - the one I always talk about is [Didier] Drogba because I played against him so often - you're not actually trying to mark him. You're trying to get out of the way of him. You're trying to stop him.

“So if he's trying to back in, you're dropping off. And then can you get in front and push up and try and leave him offside? You're permanently playing the game because once he gets that arm out, as you say, or he's backing into you, you're done. You're finished. Once the defender's been pinned, there's nothing he can do. It's game over.”

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