Breakout Premier League Star Responds to Chelsea, Liverpool Speculation

Chelsea and Liverpool have been tentatively credited with interest in one of the best summer signings of the Premier League season.

Liam Rosenior (left) and Arne Slot have both been credited with interest in a Premier League star. | Harriet Lander-Chelsea FC/Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs has accepted links to the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool as a “compliment” but warned that it is nothing more than spurious whispers at this point.

Roefs has been a fundamental aspect of Sunderland’s remarkable campaign back in the Premier League following promotion. The towering Dutchman only moved to Wearside for an initial £9 million ($12.2 million) over the summer after one full season of senior football to his name at boyhood club NEC Nijmegen. Now a revered Premier League shot-stopper with eight clean sheets to his name this season, some of the division’s elite have been billed as admirers.

“I don’t know,” Roefs sheepishly told assembled media when presented with theses connections to Chelsea and Liverpool. “I don’t know what to make of it. I don’t hear anything from it from my agents. As long as I don’t know anything about it, they can read or write what they want. I don’t know.

“Obviously, it’s a compliment, I think, if people write it about you. I’m really not into this. It’s my first season in the Premier League, my first season here. I’m really enjoying every single minute of it, so I’m not thinking of anything else.”

Roefs signed a contract until 2030 when he joined Sunderland and showed no desire to move on any time soon. “As I say, I think I enjoy every minute, especially when we play at home,” he reflected. “But also away games, the fans are just always with us ... we haven’t played in the stadium yet where the atmosphere has not been like this.”

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How Robin Roefs Compares to Alisson, Robert Sanchez

Robin Roefs (centre) is being mentioned in the same breath as Alisson (left) and Robert Sánchez. | Andrew Kearns-CameraSport/Scott Llewellyn/MI News/NurPhoto/Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images

Roefs’s qualities are clear to his manager. “He’s key,” Régis Le Bris recently gushed. “It’s fair to say that in an efficient team, you need strong players on both sides. I think the goalkeeper and the centre backs are really important to protect the goal.

“He’s young, without a lot of experience,” Le Bris said of the 23-year-old. “Often you would say you need an experienced goalkeeper, because this role is really demanding, even psychologically. So he’s doing really well. When you give opportunities to young players, you can be surprised.”

Roefs has caught many onlookers unaware with his seamless adaptation to England’s top flight. The Dutch shot-stopper boasts a save rate of 71%, which is superior to both Liverpool’s Alisson and Chelsea custodian Robert Sánchez, theoretically the two figures he would be vying to replace.

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Shot-Stopping

Premier League Statistic	Robin Roefs	Alisson	Robert Sánchez
Games	27	22	26
Goals Conceded	32	25	28
xGOT Conceded	33.2	23.0	30.7
Shots on Target Faced	110	69	97
Save %	71%	64.8%	70.8%
Goals Prevented (Goals - xGOT)	+1.2	-2.0	+2.7

Stats via Opta.

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There are many aspects to admire about Roefs. So many young goalkeepers are bullied upon their introduction to the hyper-physical demands of Premier League football. Yet, at a time when England’s top flight is at its hustling, bustling peak, the 6'4" gloved figure has scarcely been ruffled.

The issue for Chelsea and Liverpool may lie in what Roefs does with his feet rather than his hands.

Sunderland are far more direct than either of these particular Premier League rivals—which is demonstrated by Roefs’s tendency to spear the ball forward. More than half of all the passes he has attempted this season have been long. Alisson, by comparison, plays it short two-thirds of the time.

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Style

Premier League Statistic	Robin Roefs	Alisson	Robert Sánchez
Average Passes per 90	39.5	31.5	39.5
% Passes that are Long	50.1%	33.5%	47.6%
Defence Start Distance	40.1 metres	42.5 metres	42.8 metres

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Sánchez is more likely to go long—which could become an increasing trend in the modern age to bypass teams who so regularly press man-to-man in midfield—but both Chelsea and Liverpool play far more on the front foot than Sunderland.

This is borne out in the average distance of their defensive line—only Wolves play closer to their own goal than Sunderland. Roefs may very well be adept at sweeping up behind a high backline but he has had little chance to show it just yet.

Still only 23 with less than two full campaigns at the elite level under his belt, Roefs has time on his side. Sánchez’s sporadic blunders mask a much-improved campaign while Liverpool have already signed Alisson’s replacement in the form of Giorgi Mamardashvili. All three parties may be best advised to exhibit the rarest quality in football: patience.

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