OTD: BRIAN BROBBEY BORN

On this day, Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey was born. He's currently our top scorer this season, scoring some important goals since joining in summer 2025.

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 2019/20 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.

In 2024/25, he didn’t reach the heights he did in 2023/24. 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. A combination of off the field personal issues outside of his control and Ajax being poor (and therefore not a nice environment to be at) contributed to his decline in form.

Still, one bad season quite early in your career shouldn't discount your potential. That was probably the logic we had before bringing him to Wearside, we are the wonderkid rehablitation center after all. We paid €25 million for his signature (factoring in add-ons), which some said was a risk. Luckily it appears the risk was well-worth it, he's netted five times at the time of writing which makes him our top scorer. He was initially behind Wilson Isidor in the pecking order, due to him already being established at the club and enjoying a decent run of form in the early games of the season. He started doing well off the bench though, coinciding with the goals for Isidor drying up.

Brobbey's first goal contribution will be well-remembered. He held the ball up superbly inside Chelsea's half at Stamford Bridge in second half stoppage time, before laying it off for the oncoming Chemsdine Talbi who slotted it into the bottom right corner. That won us the game 2-1, sending the away end into bedlam. His first goal was perhaps even more dramatic, the Dutch international came off the bench against Arsenal at the Stadium of Light. The league-leaders took the lead ten minutes after he came on but we (on brand) kept going 'Til the End and he demsontrated a fantastic piece of athleticism to divert a ball into the back of the net in the 94th minute to grab us a point and keep our unbeaten streak on home soil going. The striker then capped off a great comeback-win at home to Bournemouth, as we came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2, with Brobbey netting our third via a header in the final game of November.

He didn't manage to score in the month of December, despite his first goal convincing Regis Le Bris to begin starting him in games. However, he rescued us a point away to Tottenham Hotspur in early January, practically taking the net off the woodwork in the process. Most recently, he scored the winning goal at home to Crystal Palace and found a consolation away to West Ham United.

Internationally, he has eight caps and one goal for the Netherlands. He appeared briefly at the last European Championship 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 so far came in a 1-1 Nations League group stage draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina.