Town 'Make Bid' For Second Dutch Keeper
Sunday, 19th Jul 2026 11:57

Town have made a bid for Royale Union Saint-Gilloise keeper Kjell Scherpen, according to a report in the Netherlands.

The Blues played down interest in the 26-year-old when approached by TWTD early in the transfer window, but the link re-emerged just over a week ago.

Now, according to AD.nl, Town have made a bid for Scherpen with discussions ongoing between the clubs and an accord expected to be reached. It’s reported elsewhere that personal terms have been agreed in principle.

The Blues are already close to signing one Dutch keeper, Kayne van Oevelen, with a fee set with his club Volendam and five-year personal terms agreed.

However, the 22-year-old isn’t viewed as a first-choice initially and will either be a back-up or sent out on loan to the Championship for the season ahead.

Town have been targeting a more experienced number one with Newcastle’s Nick Pope, a former Town academy schoolboy, having been the subject of talks.

Emmen-born Scherpen had been with Brighton & Hove Albion for four years until last summer, spending spells on loan at Oostende, Vitesse and Sturm Graz making one senior appearance for the Seagulls in the FA Cup. The Sussex club are reported to be due 40 per cent of the profit on the fee they received.

The 6ft 9in tall keeper, who was capped by the Netherlands at U19 and U21 levels, joined Union SG - Brighton’s sister club - on a permanent basis in July last year for £4.2 million and enjoyed an impressive season as his side finished second in the Belgian Pro League and won the Belgian Cup.

The Town squad, who drew 2-2 with Cambridge United in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Playford Road on Friday, Chuba Akpom scoring both goals, travel to La Manga for their training camp on Monday.

Photo: BELGA via Reuters Connect

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NITFC added 12:04 - Jul 19 Blimey, we'll soon have nearly as many goalkeepers as we have wingers
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dirtydingusmagee added 12:08 - Jul 19 O'Neil gonna build a wall, formation will be interesting lol.
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Gforce added 12:13 - Jul 19 Sounds decent,I wouldn't imagine this guy would be happy being number 2,so maybe the Pope deal is off ?
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Wickets added 12:15 - Jul 19 Walt long term injury only a rumour but if he doesn't go to training camp maybe something in it .
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jas0999 added 12:25 - Jul 19 I do wonder whether GON was less than impressed with Pope … to be fair if the reported fee is anywhere near £15M and wages £100K per week, for a 34 year old, then I’m not at all surprised.
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Bazza8564 added 12:54 - Jul 19 Wickets, no details but I'd heard that too, we don't buy two keepers if not
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Benji1611 added 12:55 - Jul 19 Newcastle are asking too much for Pope and his wages will likely be another stumbling block. This guy is very capable and if we get a good deal, it could be a top bit of recruitment.
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PhuketPete added 12:58 - Jul 19 @wickets. Who??
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atty added 13:01 - Jul 19 Pope deal not happening. Scherpen vying for No.1 with Walton, van olevelen one for the future - out on loan? Palmer off?
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JeremiahBrown added 13:04 - Jul 19 PhuketPete he means Christian Walton is rumoured as being injured
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PortmanTerrorist added 13:23 - Jul 19 Can he play Right Wing?! lol
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tetchris added 13:37 - Jul 19 With two new keepers incoming it doesn’t look good for either Palmer or Walton.
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inghamspur added 13:46 - Jul 19 Are we going to play 4 in goal?
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Vincakes added 13:58 - Jul 19 Two goals for Chuba.....
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cooper4england added 13:59 - Jul 19 Surely there must be a better photo of him in a slightly more reassuring positon!
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ronnyd added 14:14 - Jul 19 #cooper4england. At 6'9" he's as tall sitting like that as Cooper was standing lol. What a great keeper he was.
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Monkey_Blue added 15:12 - Jul 19 Jas0999 GON doesn’t get involved in the finances. He just gets to say yes or no to a signing. This isn’t the 1980s. He may well not like pope as a player but fee and wages are none of his business as it was with McKenna. A coach has enough to deal with without being asked to get a calculator out to assess deals.
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grow_our_own added 15:51 - Jul 19

Is Walton injured? Is Palmer really that bad?
goals scored 2024/5 promotion team: 95
goals scored 2025/6 promotion team: 80

Right now we'll be relegated primarily bc we won't score enough, especially since our best attacker, if rumours are true, is on his way out. Feels like we're prioritising the wrong end of the pitch.

Jettisoning our keeper last time we were promoted didn't go well. We conceded 10 fewer goals despite ending with 12 fewer points than last time we went up. Let's fix what is broken first and foremost.

flykickingbybgunn added 16:13 - Jul 19 Clearly all the best keepers are clearly Dutch. Why have we not realised this before ?
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ITFCSG added 16:40 - Jul 19 What is the sudden obsession with keepers? There are plenty of areas lacking that are more urgent to fill than GK
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ITFC_Singapore added 17:03 - Jul 19 Am I missing something ? Walton is a quality keeper who I think is good enough to play in the Prem or at the very least compete for a place as number 1. I can see bringing in one keeper if Palmer will head out, although he might be able to step up too.
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Monkey_Blue added 17:10 - Jul 19 I suspect Keepers are not the focus, these just seem to be easier deals to get done. Word is Everton have agreed a few and personal terms for Fatuwa which if true means our only chance would be match the fee and offer way more money because from a purely rational point of view Everton is a better move
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armchaircritic59 added 18:05 - Jul 19

Guessing if it gets confirmed, this guy will be our number one and it's not just a tall story :) For a few who seem concerned about a seemingly focus on keepers and not " more important/urgent positions " I'd say this. A top keeper can win you double figure points a season. It's one of my essential 5 core positions for us to fill. Along with central defender, midfielder, and 2 strikers. If this goes ahead we have 2 out of the 5 positions I want to see filled by the time the first proper pre season game kicks off on 29th July. No time to bed in players around the start of the PL season, we're finished before we even start if we go down that route again. Only just got away with it last season thanks to the late season Boro collapse. We most definitely won't get away with anything in the PL.

Gforce added 18:30 - Jul 19 According to Sky sports we are close to agreeing a £20 million deal for Fatuwa.
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blueboy1981 added 18:43 - Jul 19 It’ll be nothing short of a Miracle if we survive the Prem’ this season. Recruitment and Exits goes from Bad to Worse !! What a shambles for almost late July ? Ashton you have much to answer for.
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