No prospects at OL
©IMAGO
This article was first published on December 30, 2024 and was updated following reports of an agreement between Hoffenheim and Lyon.
Gift Orban is looking for a way out of his misery at Olympique Lyon, and TSG Hoffenheim offers the solution. After several offers, the Kraichgauers now seem to have met the French’s expectations.
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Although the Bundesliga club recently faced competition from RC Lens, as various reports showed, it quickly became clear that TSG’s offer was better. There are now only details that remain to be clarified, as transfer reporters Fabrizio Romano and Matteo Moretto report. Now it’s time for Hoffenheim to clarify the formalities with Orban.
OL’s ideas are said to have only been met after repeated attempts. The alleged last Hoffenheim offer, which was made public in reports, is said to have been 10 million. The Ligue 1 club itself transferred 12 million euros to KAA Gent for Orban a year ago, which has now increased to 14 million euros with bonuses. But the Nigerian has now disappeared somewhat into obscurity and was last used in the Europa League at the beginning of November – in the 2-2 draw against Hoffenheim. Orban has not been in a matchday squad in the league since the end of October. Nevertheless, the Gones are said to have insisted on the 12 million originally paid.
Lens is said to have been well below the TSG offer. Various reports in mid-December also showed that the Kraichgauers were in advanced discussions. Orban’s contract in Lyon is valid until 2028.
“Orban is not playing because of the competition,” said Joachim Durand, Content Manager France at Transfermarkt, a few weeks ago. “He is the third center forward in the OL hierarchy behind Alexandre Lacazette, the indispensable captain, and Georges Mikautadze, for whom the club invested a high fee this summer. So he has to make do with the crumbs left behind the two of them. His great qualities are his strength and his finishing, but he is not necessarily technically adept or very good at playing with his teammates.”