European giants 'forced to cancel' summer swoop for Sunderland favourite, paved way for Black Cats transfer

Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs is undeniably proving himself to be one of the runaway success stories of the Premier League campaign to date.

Signed from NEC Nijmegen for a relatively modest fee as part of a hectic summer of transfer activity on Wearside, the towering Dutchman has since produced a series of standout performances for the Black Cats that have not only garnered plenty of affection from supporters, but a fair amount of attention from further afield too.

On Saturday, in the FA Cup third round against Everton, Roefs arguably mustered up his most outlandish display of heroism yet, saving three consecutive penalties in a resounding shootout victory for Regis Le Bris’ men at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Speaking about his goalkeeper after the final whistle, the Sunderland boss said: “He is getting better. He is still young and he wants to learn, so when you give him opportunities to play at this level, he will grow quickly. I think it is only the beginning for him. He will have ups and downs, which is normal, he is really consistent in what he does. He obviously helped the team massively in the penalty shootout."

And with the Black Cats having unearthed such a gem for a comparative pittance, one of the questions that has been frequently floated back in the Netherlands is how the likes of Eredivisie giants Ajax allowed a player of Roefs’ pedigree and potential to evade their grasp, despite him playing right on their doorstep.

Well, according to continental journalist De Telegraaf journalist Mike Verweij, as quoted by Voetbal Primeur, Ajax might have missed out on the stopper, but they did make attempts to prise him away from Nijmegen before he agreed to join Sunderland.

The reporter said: “I think I can debunk a few more reports about Ajax like this. Ajax enquired about Roefs. Then NEC said: ‘We want €10 million.’ They immediately added that Marcel Boekhoorn [the owner] probably wanted much more. That was simply too much for Ajax. So, they were forced to cancel the deal. When you see him play now, you think, ‘They should have done it’. Those are decisions made in the moment. NEC was simply too high up for Ajax.”

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What has Robin Roefs said about playing for Sunderland?

For his part, Roefs has spoken highly of Sunderland’s fans, and in particular, the electric atmosphere they generate at the Stadium of Light. Speaking after his star turn against Everton, he said: “Our supporters are fantastic, wherever we play, you can always hear them above everything else. And our home games are completely unprecedented: they go wild with every tackle. And it’s not just one section of the stadium, it’s the whole stadium.”

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