It seems ridiculous to think back to last August, when the signing of Robin Roefs was confirmed by the club, that he would turn out to be such a bargain.
Upon his signing, I enquired to my close friend
whose knowledge of European football is far superior to mine and he stated early doors that this was a very good goalkeeper that we were getting, and he has been true to his word!
Sunderland’s summer dealings were extraordinary in the numbers and in the amount of money spent but it is hard to argue with how successful it has been.
Naturally, much of the talk surrounding the summer signings centres around Granit Xhaka’s arrival at the club and whilst our new captain has been a revelation, Roefs’ signing is a very close second.
From the very first game against West Ham United, Roefs displayed a composure beyond his years, settling into his new team like a duck to water whilst also having a really solid presence where he had no qualms about coming for crosses, leaping like a salmon to collect balls in the air.
This form continued for the entire first half of the season where commanding performances against the likes of Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and our home win against Newcastle United stand out as some of the many great games he had.
In addition, it is likely that his save from Bruno Fernandes at Old Trafford in October will go down as one of the best saves in the Premier League all season where his fingertips avoided an almost certain goal in a first half where his goal was absolutely bombarded with shots.
Today, Roefs turns 23 and in goalkeeping terms, that’s perceived as a man with his career only beginning. At this early stage of his Sunderland career, it seems hard to argue with the points made on a recent episode of Ha’way The Podcast that he may be one of our best ever goalkeepers in recent times.
That of course will be perceived as hyperbole by some people, but the point stands that Roefs’ quality has been there for all to see already this season and to quote Harry Redknapp, it seems clear that he has the quality “to go right to the very top”.
After the FA Cup penalty shootout last weekend, it seems that many more people are beginning to take notice of him and whilst this is clearly good news for us as a club, one would rather if Match of the Day did less features of him after our games!
Inevitably, bigger clubs will start sniffing around him in the next year or so but instead of worrying about that, let’s enjoy him while we have him.
Happy Birthday Robin!
