Sunderland won their first European match since 1973 when they secured a 1-0 victory over Dutch side AZ Alkmaar at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night.

The Black Cats were given the perfect opportunity to score their first goal in Europe this century when Enzo Le Fee danced his way into the box before being fouled.

He got up from being fouled and was able to calmly and confidently stroke his penalty into the bottom right corner, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, and that ended up being the winning goal on the night.

The club swooped to sign the Frenchman permanently from Roma last year for a fee of £19.3m and he has been a revelation on Wearside ever since.

How Enzo Le Fee is so important to Sunderland

Le Fee is incredibly important to Sunderland and Regis Le Bris for several reasons. One of those reasons is because of the quality that he can provide when he is at his best.

Since the start of last season, the 26-year-old star has scored eight goals, created 16 'big chances', and provided six assists in all competitions for the Black Cats.

In the past 13 months, Le Fee ranks first among his Sunderland teammates for goals, 'big chances' created, and assists, which speaks to how important he is to the team as an attacking force.

He is the only player who has scored more than one goal in all competitions in the 2026/27 campaign, and he was the only player who reached at least five goals and five assists in the squad last season.

However, despite his importance to the team as both a scorer and a creator of goals, he is not the most important player in Le Bris' team at the moment.

Sunderland's best signing since Jermain Defoe

There is another player in the squad who seems more worthy of being described as the club's best signing since Jermain Defoe, who was their best player in their last stint in the Premier League.

Defoe scored 37 goals in 100 appearances in all competitions for Sunderland, including 15 Premier League goals in both the 2015/16 and 2016/17 campaigns, after a £3m move from Toronto in January 2015.

The former England international was a sensational and consistent performer for the club, and the Black Cats may have found their new version of him in a star who plays at the other end of the pitch.

In the summer of 2025, Le Bris swooped to sign goalkeeper Robin Roefs from NEC Nijmegen for a fee of just £11.5m, which means that he is not even in the club's top ten most expensive ever signings.

The Netherlands international, who earned an 8/10 player rating from FFC against AZ, looks like the club's best signing since Defoe and an even better signing than Le Fee, based on his performances since the start of last season.

Roefs became the first Sunderland goalkeeper since 1973 to keep a clean sheet when he prevented 0.83 xG in the win over the Eredivisie outfit on Thursday night, making history on Wearside.

Last season, the Dutchman hit the ground running in the Premier League and looked to be an instant hit as a reliable and impressive performer between the sticks, ranking highly among goalkeepers for clean sheets kept.

Roefs also ranked third for saves made (109), fifth for penalties saved (one), and first for crosses claimed (45), which shows that he is a proactive goalkeeper who can take pressure away from his defenders.

The 23-year-old star has been an even better signing than Le Fee because of how consistent he has been in goal, whilst the attacking midfielder can go through quiet spells between goal contributions.

European football writer Adam Fulwell claimed in April that "whoever scouted Robin Roefs needs a statue" because he is an "unbelievable" goalkeeper, which is why Le Bris deserves a statue for this piece of recruitment.

Whilst scouts identify players, it is down to the manager to decide which player to sign and who the club should spend significant money on, which means that it was down to his judgement as to why Roefs was brought in for £11.5m.

At the age of 23, Roefs is also three years younger than Le Fee and may have more potential to be sold on for a profit in the future, especially after costing almost £8m less than the Frenchman.

Therefore, there is a case to be made that Roefs is the club's best signing since Defoe, due to the impressive impact that he has had at the top level, and an even better signing than Le Fee.