Brighton sign Kjell Scherpen for £4.2m – and he is taller than Dan Burn
Step aside Big Dan Burn. You will have to be known as Moderately Tall Dan Burn from now on. For Brighton have completed the signing of 6’8 goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen from Ajax for £4.2 million.
The Dutchman has represented his country at Under 19 and Under 21 level and has been on the Albion’s radar for some time as they look to add capable backup for Robert Sanchez, who firmly established himself as number one after ousting Maty Ryan last season.
Ryan has since moved to Real Sociedad, leaving Graham Potter in need of a new goalkeeper should Sanchez be left indisposed for some reason.
Signing Kjell Scherpen means that Brighton can now allow Christian Walton to leave the club permanently for first team football. It also enables Jason Steele to return to being third choice in the pecking order, removing the scenario of seeing what comedy he could conjure up if thrown into a Premier League match.
Steele can now concentrate on what he does best, namely playing 18 holes at Singing Hills, sinking pints and pizza in The Station Pub, and stepping in for the odd cup game against League Two opposition to play like a man who is on MDMA for 120 minutes before saving four penalties in a shoot out.
Scherpen began his career with FC Emmen. He made his debut in the 2017-18 season, playing once as Emmen won promotion to the Eredivisie for the first time in their history.
For Emmen’s debut top flight campaign in 2018-19, Scherpen became first choice and played in all 34 league matches. He broke the Dutch top flight record for most appearances by a teenage goalkeeper and his performances helped Emmen to a 14th place finish.
Ajax were convinced to pay £1.3 million for his services. He signed a four-year contract with the Dutch giants and his unveiling video involved him being made to write lines by chief executive Edwin van der Sar and director of football Marc Overmars saying, “Ajax is the finest club in the Netherlands”.
This was apparently in response to the fact that in the past, Scherpen had made statements in support of Feyenoord, Ajax’s hated rivals. When Ajax supporters unearthed these comments, there was even a campaign to stop the club signing him.
Overmars and Van der Sar – not a bad judge of goalkeeping talent you suspect – could not be put off however and Scherpen arrived as one for the future, according to Overmars.
Scherpen spent 2019-20 behind Bruno Varela and Dominik Kotarski in the pecking order at the Johan Cruyff Arena, not making a single first team appearance.
In 2020-21, Scherpen was promoted to Ajax’s number two. He deputised for Maarten Stekelenburg on four occasions, playing twice in the Eredivisie, once in the Europa League and once in the Dutch Cup. He also played 29 times for the Ajax Under 21s in his two seasons as the club.
We believe that at 6’8, Scherpen will become the tallest goalkeeper ever to play for Brighton. Sexy Pete Brezovan stood at 6’5 whilst Florent Chaigneau was 6’4 – bonus points if you remember who he was.
The Albion will be hoping that Scherpen can go onto become as successful as their last Dutch goalkeeper. Michel Kuipers made 287 appearances in 10 years with Brighton, winning four promotions and becoming one of the most popular Brighton players of all time.
Kuipers now works as an agent, including for Jurgen Locadia. The Former Dutch Marine will have a busy summer ahead of himself as the Albion look to offload the Dutch striker.
Takers will be hard to come by after Locadia was deemed not good enough by the might of FC Cincinnati. He scored three times in 26 appearances for the side who finished bottom of the MLS last season, leading them to reject the opportunity of turning his loan into a permanent deal.
