Town Confirm Scherpen Signing
Tuesday, 28th Jul 2026 12:00

Town have confirmed the signing of Royale Union Saint-Gilloise keeper Kjell Scherpen on a deal which runs to the summer of 2030.

The two clubs agreed a fee of an initial €10 million (£8.5 million) plus a further €3 million (£2.6 million) in add-ons over the weekend for the 6ft 9in tall Dutchman with his former side Brighton - Union SG’s sister club - due 40 per cent of the profit made on the €2 million (£1.7 million) paid for him last summer.

“This is a very proud moment for me,” the Blues’ sixth signing of the window said. “This is a great opportunity for me to show my qualities and test myself in the best league in the world, so I’m really looking forward to making memories together.

“I’ve had great conversations and everything here has been really positive, so it’s made me very excited to join Ipswich Town.

“I’m looking forward to meeting my teammates and can’t wait to meet the fans and get started.”

Town manager Gary O’Neil added: “Kjell is a strong addition to our goalkeeping unit and we're delighted to have him with us.

“He has experienced playing at the top level in different countries, as well as in European competitions, and is excited to now have the opportunity to test himself in the Premier League.

“We're excited for him to join up with the rest of the squad and begin to prepare for the season with us.”

Scherpen is the joint-tallest player in Town’s history alongside fellow keeper Tomas Holy and who will become the tallest ever to feature in the Premier League, beating 6ft 8in tall former Manchester City number one Costel Pantilimon.

Emmen-born Scherpen had been with Brighton for four years until last summer’s switch to Union SG, spending spells on loan at Oostende, Vitesse and Sturm Graz, and making one senior appearance for the Seagulls in the FA Cup.

Scherpen, who was capped by the Netherlands at U19 and U21 levels and received one senior call back in 2022, enjoyed an impressive 2025/26 as his side finished second in the Belgian Pro League and won the Belgian Cup. He kept 16 Belgian Pro League clean sheets, two more than anyone else, and also had the highest save percentage, 74.7.

In addition, he has played in the Champions League for the last two seasons.

The new signing will come in as Town’s number one ahead of the club’s current keepers and fellow Dutchman Kayne van Oevelen, who joined from Volendam earlier in the week and started Saturday’s 0-0 friendly draw with FC Cartagena.

Photo: ITFC.co.uk

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Bazza8564 added 12:03 - Jul 28 Brilliant signing, magic stats and he's huge! Welsome young fella
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BurleysGloryDays added 12:04 - Jul 28 The big man arrives
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Klassic_Ben added 12:07 - Jul 28 Glad to see this is sorted, though must admit I feel a bit sorry for Walton. Anyway welcome to the club Kjell - here’s hoping you become a massive success.
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MVBlue added 12:13 - Jul 28 Been saying I was hoping we'd go Dutch again in transfers
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RetroBlue added 12:20 - Jul 28 6ft 9ins tall , wow! I hope the Town shirts are long enough for him :) Welcome to Town, Kjell ..Ive got a good feeling about you .
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GTRKing added 12:23 - Jul 28 Great player can’t pronounce his name yet! Up the town good season ahead
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WalkRules added 12:25 - Jul 28 Handy if a floodlight bulb ever needs changing. Great signing. COYB
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dirtydingusmagee added 12:29 - Jul 28 well he will fill a fair bit of space between the posts ,Welcome to Town .
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C_Thomsen added 12:30 - Jul 28 Champions League experience with both Sturm (where the fans really rated him too) and Union, compared to Leeds paying 40M for Trafford, Scherpen seems like a bargain. COYB! Now onto the midfield!
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Stato added 12:31 - Jul 28

Some good work done on the spine of the team. So far there looks to be a plan that contains joined up thinking. A few of the fringe players are clearly leaving and the overall standard of the aquad seems likely to end up stronger than on our last season in the Prem. We have a 6 pointer on the first day of the season so an urgency remains to get as many of the planned signings done sooner rather than later

guentchev123 added 12:41 - Jul 28

We all feel sorry for Walton after how well he played last year. However, even if he wasn’t injured, we were realistically always going to sign another Goalkeeper, as Walton & Palmer probably not a strong enough combination. In fairness, the club have gone out and spent a good chunk of money on a keeper with champions league experience and has the physical attributes to be able to succeed in the PL. This summers transfers are about upgrading all departments 20% or more, to give us a fighting chance of staying up and is also about significantly enhancing our physicality, which we certainly seem to be doing. Well done to MA and the recruitment team on what has been achieved so far.

Brogan55 added 12:42 - Jul 28 The progress we have made since the World Cup is unbelievable.I do feel sorry for Walton,but we have to move on.
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MickMillsTash added 12:44 - Jul 28 A Huge signing!!
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TownSupporter added 12:44 - Jul 28 Might be the most valuable signing for us this season.
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Alphawhiskey added 13:25 - Jul 28 He must seem very intimidating when lining up to take a pen against him! Welcome big man. COYB.
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PhuketPete added 13:25 - Jul 28 I hope this is a great move but I can’t quite get over that just one year ago, Brighton (no dummies in the talent spotting and transfer business) thought he was worth £1.7m… Which is less than we paid WBA for Alex Palmer at around the same time.
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Steelmonkey added 13:28 - Jul 28 Welcome Kjell, I hope this becomes part of the greatest of Ipswich Towns history. Will the club now say what the injury is that has afflicted Christian Walton, is it a re-occurrence of his planter fasciitis?
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Dubchief added 13:36 - Jul 28

PhiketPete, they thought he was top level and had potential, the 1.7million doesn’t mean a lot as it was an “internal” trade to their sister club with same ownership, so they never truly let him go. it’s an area of business that Ipswich ownership has been looking at I think also. if you make deals between a club affiliated with Town then you can move on young talent not yet ready for premier league to a club, and have free licence to build in contract terms, such as sell on clauses, which is exactly what Brighton did with Scherpen.

jas0999 added 13:41 - Jul 28 Another good signing.
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churchmans81 added 13:44 - Jul 28 Very happy with that. Also, interesting to see Delap played up front for Chelsea today. Played for an over an hour and was replaced by Joao Pedro who bagged 3 goals inside 10 minutes. I wonder whether we have Liam in our sights as a potential loan or a permanent signing again?!
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Marcus added 13:50 - Jul 28 So it both was and wasn't a tall story
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RetroBlue added 13:55 - Jul 28 Has anyone heard of any senior player departures of note? We keep signing new players , but no one seems to be leaving ....
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OliveR16 added 14:02 - Jul 28 PhuketPete - as you can tell by Brighton's 40% sell on clause their valuation was provisional and they would have expected exactly this kind of future fee from their sister club after he developed.
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blueboy1981 added 14:38 - Jul 28 Well he will certainly fill some of the gap, anything more will be a bonus ! Should be able to command his area for sure. But lets see first, shall we ? - be the waxing lyrical.
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