Here's why Gift Orban's move to Lyon could reignite the French club's fortunes
After joining the former Ligue 1 champions in a deal worth €13million according to journalist Fabrizio Romano, Orban could become Lyon's new shining light.
With their current position in the French top-flight still looking precarious as a first relegation in club history potentially looms, Lyon’s signing of young forward Gift Orban from Gent could prove to be of huge help to improving their lowly plight.
Gift Orban - the story so far
Born in Benue State, Nigeria in July 2002, Gift Orban has quickly established himself as one of Africa’s most promising young stars.
After playing locally during his childhood for Bison FC - that’s a brilliant club name by the way - he was scouted by Norwegian side Stabæk in November 2021 during a showcase competition in his home country.
Originally only able to train with his new teammates due to visa issues, Orban was eventually signed by the club on loan with an option to buy in May the next year and quickly made an impression.
Just two months later, the club exercised their right to buy and during the following season, Orban would go on to finish as the topscorer in Norway’s second division, netting 16 goals in 22 appearances as his team won promotion and he was named Young Player of the Year in the competition.
Such were his goalscoring exploits, Belgian side Gent moved to sign the young Nigerian forward on a permanent basis in January 2023. Just a week later, he announced himself in the Pro League by scoring twice on his league debut before going on to score four goals in a match vs Zulte Waregem in March. He became the first Gent player to achieve that feat in the 21st century and just a few days later, he went on to set a new record for the fastest hat-trick netted in UEFA club competitions, striking three times in three minutes and 25 seconds against Istanbul Başakşehir.
All in all, his tally of 32 goals in 52 outings for Gent has now led him to French side Lyon and for a fee of just €13million - that could rise further with add-ons - the Ligue 1 outfit could be looking at the best bit of business that they’ve completed in recent memory.
What will Gift Orban bring to Lyon?
Perhaps current Lyon manager Pierre Sage said it best when he spoke to media about Orban’s imminent arrival just a few days ago. "It's true, he's very close to signing. It is well advanced. He is an attacker, a goal scorer who offers lots of possibilities. We needed this profile."
In a nutshell, that’s what Lyon will be getting this winter, a young and hungry striker who usually proves to be lethal in front of goal. It’s exactly the type of player that they’ve seriously missed this campaign.
That’s clear to see when you take into account that through 18 league outings this season, Les Gones have netted just 17 times - the fourth-fewest strikes in the competition behind fellow relegation-threatened trio Clermont Foot (13), Toulouse (16) and Metz (16).
In fact, after current topscorer Alexandre Lacazette, who has found the back of the net eight times in Ligue 1 action, the club’s second most lethal player has been central defender Jake O’Brien with three goals which tells you just about everything you need to know about the club’s current goalscoring woes.
Enter Gift Orban then, who despite struggling to an extent this season back at Gent in Belgium, could seriously ignite Lyon’s attacking play.
As mentioned, the 21-year-old has struggled for form largely this campaign, netting just three league goals during the first half of the season with his former side. That return has come from an xG total of 4.43 which highlights just how off his game he’s been, but when looking at his overall time at Gent, it’s clear to see that Lyon have bought one of Europe’s most clinical, young forwards.
Hitting 32 goals across 52 competitive performances for Gent, Orban is a constant threat in the attacking third thanks to his electric speed and impressive agility.
That can be best highlighted when using FotMob’s player traits chart which showcases Orban as an out-and-out striker compared to fellow forwards across similar leagues over the past 365 days.
Across the last year, he ranks in the top 1% of all goal scorers by those stipulations, whilst his tally of nine league goals in 2022/23 came from just 4.6 non-penalty xG. That will be exactly the type of form that Lyon fans will be desperately hoping that he can fully rediscover in the near future at Groupama Stadium.
His scoring in European competition during his time in Belgium also further underlines him as a forward with elite finishing skills when playing at a higher level, especially as he’s struck 14 goals across his last 16 such appearances.
As for similar types of forwards, FBRef likens him mostly to current AZ Alkmaar forward Vangelis Pavlidis who you can read more about here..
Of course, there’s still improvement to be made on the finishing front, especially as the Nigerian forward needs to work more on his shot selection overall.
As seen with the above map of all his shots during Belgian Pro League action this season thanks again to FotMob, he really needs to work on focusing his efforts inside the penalty area in particular. Looking at Europe’s best strikers like Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, all but two of his 58 shots in England’s top-flight have come inside the opposition’s area, something which Orban should aim to work on at Lyon in the near future.
The 21-year-old also needs to find a more physical edge in general. At present, he can be often bullied off the ball by defenders but hopefully that development will occur over the coming years.
That said, there’s also plenty of other areas where Orban impresses.
Due to his pace, Orban can operate as an effective pressing forward, constantly harassing the opposition’s defence as he looks to steal the ball back for his side high up the field. He’s also a fantastic dribbling of the ball, as referenced by his 13 successful take-ons in the Belgian league this term which have come at a success-rate of 72.2% - the highest of any striker in the competition.
His 16.81 successful passes per 90 this campaign also highlight his ability to link up the play when needed, although again, further improvements could be made in that area of his game. That’s especially true when he struggles to hold up the ball sometimes as a consequence of his lack of real physicality as mentioned before.
In fairness, the slight step up at present in quality at Lyon in comparison to Gent could help to unlock his qualities more thoroughly and if that’s the case, don’t be surprised to see Gift Orban make a real name for himself and become a transfer target for the biggest clubs in Europe in the not-so-distant future.