Sunderland had spent eight years outside of the top-flight until winning promotion last season.
Despite this, the Black Cats have made an impressive start to life back in the Premier League, currently sitting fifth as a giant in Manchester United languish down in 14th place.
[
Click to subscribe to the podcast ](https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondTheBackFour?sub_confirmation=1)
One of the reasons for Manchester United sitting where many might have expected Sunderland to be instead after six games is the lack of a commanding goalkeeper at Old Trafford – a problem those at the Stadium of Light managed to solve for just £9m in August.
Sunderland make light work of solving Manchester United problem with £9m Robin Roefs deal
As Altay Bayindir continues to struggle at Manchester United, and the problematic Andre Onana is loaned out to Trabzonspor after a string of errors, a lot rests on the shoulders of Senne Lammens, the 23-year-old glovesman signed from Royal Antwerp for £18.2m on transfer deadline day.
£47.2m was spent on Onana and £4.3m on Bayindir, meaning Manchester United have now splashed just under £70m on goalkeepers since July 2023 with little to show for it.
Contrastingly, Sunderland appear to have found a precocious goalkeeper for just £9m in Robin Roefs as Manchester United struggle with this particular recruitment task.
The 22-year-old has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water, keeping three clean sheets in his six appearances so far. Only Nick Pope at Newcastle has more with four shutouts.
Not only that, but Roefs is helping Sunderland win points they perhaps ought to be losing out on judging by the numbers, acting as the firefighter in between the sticks Manchester United so desperately need.
For example, the Dutchman was ‘expected’ to concede 2.16 goals on Saturday against Nottingham Forest, but instead made six saves as Sunderland snatched a 1-0 win against the odds.
Furthermore, Roefs is also adept with the ball at his feet. The Netherlands U21 international impressively recorded two key passes during that win at the City Ground, creating two goalscoring opportunities.
Sunderland have tied the man born in Heeswijk to a five-year contract, so this £9m deal looks highly likely to earn the Black Cats a huge profit, as well as giving Regis Le Bris a real pillar of strength in goal.
Having signed the likes of Antony, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia from the Eredivisie in recent years, you would have felt Manchester United were keeping an eye on promising gems in the Netherlands.
However, the rise of Roefs at NEC Nijmegen clearly passed them by, and Sunderland are reaping the rewards instead.
Senne Lammens offers hope
Manchester United fans are yet to see whether Lammens can prove himself to be as talented as Roefs.
The Belgian has sat on the bench in three Premier League outings now, during defeats against Manchester City and Brentford as well as the win over Chelsea.
However, Luke Shaw has been impressed by Lammens in training, and Tom Heaton has also praised his “goalkeeping fundamentals” – so perhaps the Belgium U21 international can make the step up if given the chance to do so by Ruben Amorim.