boggling £50m swoop for Sunderland 'beast'

A report has named Liverpool among three elite Premier League clubs interested in Sunderland star Robin Roefs, though TEAMtalk can explain why such a move makes little sense.

Roefs came through the NEC academy in his native Netherlands before making his first-team debut for the club in September 2023. The goalkeeper went on to make 42 senior appearances for NEC, managing 13 clean sheets.

Roefs was among a plethora of stars signed by Sunderland last summer in preparation for their return to the top flight. He joined for an undisclosed fee understood to be worth around €10.5million (£9m / $12m).

Roefs has been one of the surprise packages in the Premier League this season, pulling off some remarkable saves to help Sunderland get off to a brilliant start and reach the top eight.

According to Football Insider, Sunderland are ‘expecting £50million-plus summer bids for Roefs’ amid ‘extensive interest from Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea’.

The report claims this is why Sunderland spent £3m to land Swedish keeper Melker Ellborg on Sunday.

Roefs is clearly developing into a fantastic keeper, with former Dutch star Theo Janssen having labelled him a ‘beast’ and ‘truly fantastic’.

But the 23-year-old moving to Liverpool would make little sense. Arne Slot can already rely on Alisson as his first-choice keeper, with Giorgi Mamardashvili an elite backup.

Alisson could leave Anfield in the summer, but even then, Roefs would regret joining Liverpool. He would go from being a hero at Sunderland to warming the bench for Liverpool’s likely new No 1, Mamardashvili.

It is already harsh that Mamardashvili is not picking up regular minutes in the Premier League, as he was previously viewed as one of LaLiga’s best keepers.

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Robin Roefs should prioritise Chelsea move

Like Liverpool, City already have strong options in goal, with Gianluigi Donnarumma their first choice and James Trafford his backup.

Roefs joining Chelsea would make more sense. Both Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen have received criticism after making mistakes at Stamford Bridge.

Returning to Liverpool, Roefs is not the only Sunderland player to be linked with a move to Anfield. Liverpool held talks for Lutsharel Geertruida late in the January window, whom Slot knows well following their time together at Feyenoord.

But the deal was always going to be difficult given the time constraints and the fact Geertruida is on loan at Sunderland from RB Leipzig. Sunderland ultimately called off talks, leaving Liverpool short in defence for the second half of the season.

Liverpool transfer news: Two Jacquet verdicts; Salah bid coming

Meanwhile, Liverpool have been branded ‘suckers’ for paying so much for Jeremy Jacquet.

Jacquet has also been criticised by the French media after Mason Greenwood gave him a hard time during Rennes’ 3-0 defeat to Marseille.

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