BRIAN BROBBEY: WHO ARE YOU?

Sunderland’s penultimate signing of the summer transfer window was 23-year-old Netherlands international Brian Brobbey. The striker joins on a five-year deal for a fee of £17.3 million and £4 million in add-ons from Ajax. Here’s a recap of his career so far:

Born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 2002, Brobbey started out in the academy of lower league side Amsterdamsche before moving to Ajax in 2010. His first runout in a senior competition came in October 2018, when he played just over half an hour for Jong Ajax in the Dutch second tier versus PSV’s U21s. In the 19/20 season, he scored seven and assisted one in the Eerste Divisie (Dutch second division), his first senior goal coming in the form of a winner versus NAC Breda and later in the season he scored a brace in a 3-3 draw with NEC Nijmegen.

The following season saw another nine goals and four assists for Ajax’s second team but he made 19 appearances, scored six and assisted two for Ajax proper. One of those appearances came in the Champions League and three of the goals came in the Europa League. His first in the Europa League was an 89th minute winner away to LOSC Lille but his first goal for Ajax overall was on Halloween Day 2020 in a 5-2 victory at home to Fortuna Sittard. Other highlights during the season included, scoring and assisting in the same Eredivisie match against Willem II and scoring twice in just two minutes (within the first five minutes of the game) in a second division clash with FC Den Bosch. He ended the season with a league winner’s medal.

It had been announced in March 2021 that he would leave Ajax at the end of the season and join Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig. It wasn’t a very successful transfer though, he played just 14 games and provided three assists but scored none. In December 2021, he rejoined Ajax on a loan deal. This loan was a far better time for him, he immediately scored twice in a 3-0 win versus FC Utrecht in his first game back then followed this up with a headed goal against PSV Eindhoven. He scored four goals in five league matches at the end of the season, overall netting seven in 13 matches. The only real negative was that they lost the KNVB Beker Cup final to PSV but they could console themselves with another league title win at least. In May 2022 he was named the Eredivisie Talent of the Month.

Ajax brought him back permanently before the start of the next season, paying €16.35 million plus €3 million in add-ons. On a personal level, he won two Talent of the Month awards and also a Player of the Month accolade. PSV stole more trophies from him however, as De Godenzonen lost to them 5-3 in the Johan Cruyff Shield and by them again in the cup final, this time via penalties. He scored 14 goals and assisted four in 44 games in all competitions.

2023-24 was his best in an Ajax shirt. He made 33 goal contributions (22 goals and 11 assists) in 43 appearances, this includes a great run of nine goals in just six matches in the Eredivisie. What makes his record even more impressive is that it occurred in a season in which his club finished 5th in the league; they hadn’t finished that low in 24 years and their points tally of 56 was their lowest since the Netherlands introduced three points per win in 1995. He won another Eredivisie Player of the Month award and was named Ajax Player of the Year too.

Last season, he didn’t reach the heights he did in 23/24. He still had 13 goal contributions (seven goals, six assists) though, which isn’t poor by any means. A couple of notable moments were scoring and assisting twice in a 5-0 drubbing of Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League and finding the back of the net in a 2-1 win against Feyenoord.

Internationally, he has eight caps and one goal for the Netherlands. He appeared briefly at the last Euros, for a few minutes from the bench in the semi final against England, and also played for his country in the 2025 Nations League finals. His only goal came in a 1-1 Nations League group stage draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

With us losing Marc Guiu rather unexpectedly, it became even more important we brought another striker in before the window slammed shut. There were certainly worse options than Brian Brobbey. Sure, he didn’t do too well at Leipzig when he was much younger and last season left a lot to be desired but he did have a lot of things going on in his personal life and Ajax wasn’t always the nicest environment to be in with them struggling for form at times. He’s young, so there’s hopefully resale value and he hasn’t hit his ceiling yet. Attribute wise, he is strong and can hold the ball up well, he will complement our other strikers and hopefully improve their output through creating chances through his physicality. Much like some of our other signings this season, I think this is another one we can get very excited by. Fallen by the wayside slightly, but if there's ever a club to put him back on track it's us, right?