The Black Cats have agreed to pay an initial sum of £9.5m for the 22-year-old, with the agreement with Nijmegen also including a further £2.5m of potential add-ons.
Roefs is due to travel to England today to complete a medical, with his transfer set to be formally completed and confirmed before the weekend.
Sunderland should also confirm the arrival of Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen later today, with the Swiss midfielder having successfully completed his own medical earlier this move ahead of a €20m transfer.
Roefs’ signing ends a goalkeeping recruitment drive that has been ongoing for most of the summer, with previous moves for Marcin Bulka, who joined Saudi side Neom FC, and Djordje Petrovic, who swapped Chelsea for Bournemouth, having proved unsuccessful.
Roefs was always one of the options under consideration, and Sunderland officials have agreed a deal they feel offers considerable value in the current market.
A Netherlands Under-21 international, Roefs has spent the whole of senior career with Nijmegen, having made his senior debut for the Eredivisie club in September 2023.
He has made 42 senior appearances in the Netherlands, playing for an NEC side that finished eighth in the Dutch top-flight last season.
He is set to sign a five-year contract on Wearside and become Sunderland’s number one goalkeeper, replacing Anthony Patterson, who was the first choice as the Black Cats won promotion last season.
It has been clear for most of the summer that Sunderland were seeking an upgrade on Patterson, who is currently unavailable because of injury.
It remains to be seen what happens with the academy product, who was linked with possible moves to Southampton and Leicester City earlier this summer.
Ideally, Sunderland would want Patterson to compete with Roefs for a starting spot next season. The Black Cats’ current other goalkeeping options are Simon Moore, who played in last night’s friendly defeat at Hull City, and Blondy Nna Noekeu, who was at fault for the decisive goal in Sunderland’s friendly defeat to Sporting CP on the Algarve earlier this month.
