Lyon have completed an £11million deal for Gent striker Cilik Orban after Aston Villa, West Ham United, Everton and Wolves failed to land the Nigerian international in the Premier League.
HITC Football understands outlets have been informed of the free-scoring striker’s availability from a number of clubs before he was officially confirmed as a Lyon player on Thursday afternoon.
HITC has learned that Aston Villa, West Ham United, Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers received information through intermediaries.
The same goes for Brentford, Fulham and Crystal Palace.
However, none of the seven mentioned above are willing to sign for Lyon, meaning one of Europe’s youngest strikers has crossed the border from Belgium to France for just £11m (Fabrizio Romano).
Football Conference Caliph KAA Gent VS Pogon
Gift Orban leaves Ghent for Lyon.Given how prolific Orbán has been for Gent, it might be surprising to see Lyon get a deal for such a low initial fee.
Especially after Gent chief executive Michael Luwagi claimed a few months ago that a goalscorer of Orbán’s potential should command a fee of close to £25m in the current market.
However, there are concerns that Orbán’s impressive performance at the Gelamco Arena was gone in an instant.
He scored 20 goals in his first 22 appearances for Gent in the second half of the 2022/23 season.
There have also been five hat-tricks in the last 12 months.
That’s more than Erling Holland has ever managed in one go.
But in the first half of the season, Orbán realized that the net was much less secure.
Scored three goals in 15 Jupiler League appearances. It has been less “explosive” and ineffective lately.
Get more hat tricks than Erling Holland in 2023Perhaps Aston Villa, Wolves and others will be wary of pouncing on a striker who has failed to prove himself in Europe’s major competitions, especially given how wildly his form has fluctuated in Belgium.
In addition, many renowned export companies in the Juppies League are working to meet UK expectations.
Most notable are Southampton’s Paul Onuachu and former Aston Villa duo Mbwana Samatta and Wesley.
Tottenham considered Orban as a replacement for Harry Kane, who moved to Bayern Munich, but later called off negotiations.
