It’s also Galatasaray’s turn
©IMAGO
TSG Hoffenheim should soon strengthen their offensive. As journalist Matteo Moretto from the “Relevo” portal reports, the Bundesliga club is about to sign Lyon’s Gift Orban. Reporter Fabrizio Romano talks about advanced talks and an agreement is within reach. It is not clear from the reports whether it would be a permanent transfer or a loan.
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The 22-year-old Orban only moved from KAA Gent to OL at the beginning of this year. The transfer fee was 12 million euros and could reach up to 20 million euros due to bonuses. Orban has not yet gotten going at the traditional French club; he contributed five goals in 21 games. This season he has played 259 minutes, 186 of which are in the league, in which he has been waiting for his next appearance since the end of September. In the Europa League he played 73 minutes in two games, including the 2-2 draw at TSG. In the latest Ligue 1 market value update, Orban went from 15 million to 10 million euros, making him one of the most valuable professionals in Hoffenheim’s squad. The Bundesliga professionals will be reassessed on Friday.
“Orban is not playing because of the competition. 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 behind the two of them,” explains Joachim Durand, Content Manager France at Transfermarkt. “His great qualities are his power and his finishing, but he is not necessarily technically adept or very good at playing with his teammates.”
Despite many options: TSG Hoffenheim is looking for a striker
On paper, TSG appears to be well staffed on the nine, but in fact, of the trained center forwards in the squad, only Andrej Kramaric receives regular playing time (1,721 minutes). His contract, which was originally due to expire, is said to have been automatically extended by one year thanks to a clause. Mergim Berisha, Max Moerstedt and Haris Tabakovic each don’t even reach 600 minutes across all competitions, Ihlas Bebou is still out this season due to knee surgery. The flexible Adam Hlozek and Marius Bülter also increasingly moved up front.
According to the TV channel “Sky”, TSG is looking for a fast attacker in the winter. Orban could help, but he is also being traded at Galatasaray. According to reporter Yağız Sabuncuoğlu, the Turkish top club has asked Lyon about Orban and Mikautadze. Gala has therefore held discussions with those responsible for the OL and the strikers, one of the two should be signed. According to Romano, more than one Turkish team is after Orban.