Ipswich Town have completed the signing of goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen from Belgian side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, with the move confirmed on 28 July 2026. Town have paid an initial fee of around €10m (£8.5m), with a further €3m (£2.5m) available in add-ons, and the 26-year-old Dutchman has signed a four-year contract that runs until the summer of 2030. Scherpen said the move was "a very proud moment" for him and that he was looking forward to testing himself in the Premier League.
The signing fits a clear need. Ipswich were promoted back to the Premier League last season under Kieran McKenna, who then left the club and was replaced by Gary O'Neil, appointed from Strasbourg in June. O'Neil has been rebuilding his squad for the top flight, and Scherpen is his sixth summer signing. Regular number one Christian Walton is injured and could miss the start of the campaign, so Town wanted a goalkeeper capable of walking straight into the side rather than serving as backup. "Kjell is a strong addition to our goalkeeping unit and we're delighted to have him with us," O'Neil said. "He has experienced playing at the top level."
For Union Saint-Gilloise, it means losing the man who was their first-choice goalkeeper as they won the Belgian Cup, beating Anderlecht in the final. Scherpen had joined the Brussels club permanently from Brighton in the summer of 2025, and his rapid rise there means Brighton, who sold him for a fee reported to be around €2m, are also due a cut of the profit on this move. Union Saint-Gilloise lose a keeper who had become one of the most reliable in Belgium, and who gave them two straight seasons of Champions League experience.
Scherpen's recent form explains the price tag. Across the 2025/26 season he kept 16 clean sheets in the Belgian Pro League, two more than any other goalkeeper, and posted a save percentage of 74.7%, the best in the division. In all competitions he made 43 appearances, keeping 21 clean sheets and conceding only 38 goals. That combination of shot-stopping and consistency is exactly what a promoted side needs as they try to establish themselves back in the Premier League.
His route to this point has not been straightforward. Scherpen came through Ajax's academy, winning a Dutch title and domestic cup honours, before Brighton signed him in 2022. He managed only one appearance across three years on the south coast, with the move to Belgium proving the making of him. At 6ft 9in (2.06m), he becomes the tallest player in Premier League history and is joint-tallest in Ipswich's own history alongside former keeper Tomas Holy, but it is his shot-stopping and command of his box, not just his size, that persuaded O'Neil to make him his first-choice keeper.
With Walton sidelined and fellow summer arrival Kayne van Oevelen viewed as competition rather than an immediate starter, Scherpen looks set to be Ipswich's number one when the Premier League season begins. Given his profile as a big, agile shot-stopper with a strong recent record, he arrives with every chance of nailing down the position from day one at Portman Road.