Striker has one goal in nine games since Tottenham called off £25m deal

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Gift Orban appears to have misplaced his goalscoring shoes after Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur walked away from a potential £25 million summer deal for the Gent striker. 

It feels as is everything Ange Postecoglou touches turns to gold right now, with the Aussie’s Midas Touch even extending to the transfer market. 

Tottenham Hotspur, according to Voetbal Krant, held talks to sign Gift Orban in August before getting cold feet over a potential £25 million acquisition. And, on current form, that – like most of the decisions Spurs have made in the Postecoglou era – is starting to look like the right one.

Orban had hit the target five times in just three games in the early weeks of the new campaign but, since the window closed and Spurs turned their attention elsewhere, the latest in a long-line of exciting Nigerian frontmen has picked up as many red cards as he has goals to his name.

Gift Orban struggles after Tottenham called off deal

“Things are not going so smoothly with Gift either in training,” Gent coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck tells Nieuwsblad, albeit while backing his star man to bounce back.

“It’s very simple. Someone who plays fantastically well in training always plays. We also think (Orban’s dip in form) is strange. But I also mentioned that last year, and then everything worked and everything was great. Sometimes, things just don’t work out, and Gift is just in such a moment.  

“But that can also make him stronger, once he finds his way to the goal again.”

Orban now has just one goal in his last nine games. He missed the 0-0 draw with reigning Belgian champions Royal Antwerp after picking up a straight red card against KAS Eupen. 

But form, as they say, is temporary. A still remarkable tally of 26 goals in 34 Gent appearances is proof alone of his undoubted class. 

Then again, the longer Orban’s goal drought goes on, the less Gent will be able to demand from the striker’s suitors, CEO Michael Louwagie insisting that the 21-year-old won’t be leaving on the cheap any time soon. 

One goal in nine games for Gift Orban

“Why do Ajax and PSV sell players like Antony for 95 million euros and others for easily 40 to 50 million?” Louwagie asks, speaking to Het Nieuwsblad. “And why should we think that 30 million euros is too much (for Orban), even though the competition here is at least as good (as in the Dutch Eredivisie)?”