Ipswich Town have submitted an official bid to sign Union St. Gilloise goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen, with talks ongoing over a deal.
At 6ft 8, Scherpen is one of the tallest goalkeepers in world football, and he may be about to become the newest face at Portman Road.
The 26-year-old Dutchman has taken an unusual route to the top. A boyhood Feyenoord supporter who came through at hometown club FC Emmen, he moved to Ajax in 2019, before Brighton paid around £4.2m for him in 2021.
In four years on the south coast he made just one senior appearance, an FA Cup win over West Brom in January 2022.
Loan spells at Oostende, Vitesse and Sturm Graz followed, and it was in Austria that his career took off.
Two league titles in successive seasons, an Austrian Cup, and the Austrian Bundesliga’s Goalkeeper of the Season award in 2024/25.
USG signed him permanently for just £1.5m last July, and the move has been a resounding success. Scherpen was key in a campaign where the Brussels club won the Belgian Cup, beating Anderlecht 3-1 after extra time in the first all-Brussels final in the competition’s history.
They also finished runners-up to Club Brugge in the Pro League after topping the regular-season standings. Across the season he kept 21 clean sheets in more than 40 appearances, form that has put him firmly on the Premier League radar with Ipswich eyeing a move for Scherpen.
That is where they come in with a big update this afternoon.
Ipswich submit £7m bid for Kjell Scherpen with talks ongoing
Sky Switzerland reporter Sacha Tavolieri has now revealed on X that the newly promoted Blues have submitted an €8m bid, around £7m, to Union for the goalkeeper.
Tavolieri reports that Scherpen is open to the move, but that a significant gap remains between Union’s asking price and Ipswich’s opening offer, with ‘talks ongoing’.
Dutch outlet AD adds that personal terms have already been agreed in principle, and that negotiations between the clubs are progressing well.
The interest is easy to understand.
Goalkeeper was arguably Ipswich’s biggest problem during their last Premier League campaign, when £15m signing Arijanet Muric was dropped midway through the season.
You scored
out of 20
Christian Walton stepped up superbly during the 2025/26 promotion run, with his 16 league clean sheets earned him the Players’ Player of the Year award, but Gary O’Neil’s recruitment team have made the position a priority this summer.
Scherpen has been on their shortlist for several weeks alongside names including Nick Pope, and the club have now made their move, following up the club-record £24m arrival of Brazilian striker Emersonn from Toulouse.
