‘Here we go’… £30m striker who Tottenham wanted to sign is now set to join another club
Gift Orban, a KAA Gent striker, is expected to sign a long-term contract with Olympique Lyon after Tottenham Hotspur expressed interest in him over the summer.
That’s according to Fabrizio Romano, who says Lyon would pay about £11.1 million to get the forward.
After Harry Kane left the team in the summer, Spurs were looking for a new striker.
In the end, Ange Postecoglou decided to bring in Brennan Johnson, a more adaptable option, who had transferred from Nottingham Forest to Tottenham on deadline day.
The idea that Tottenham might hold off on signing the Gent star until the summer of 2024 was floated at the time.
Spurs may need to wait till later as the 21-year-old is set to join Lyon if they want to rekindle their interest in him.
Lyon set to sign Tottenham target Orban
On Wednesday morning, Romano announced on X that Lyon and Orban had reached an agreement.
“Gift Orban to Olympique Lyon, here we go,” he wrote. Agreed to pay Gent €13 million.
John Textor is a big fan of the deal and hopes to get another elite player to join Malick Fofana.
“Orban, as initially requested by Hugo Guillemet, will sign until June 2028. Danjuma and Benrahma are still on the OL list.
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Orban, who scored 20 goals in 22 games in all competitions for Gent, dominated the Belgian league the previous season.
The Nigerian striker has only scored three goals in his 17 league games this season, so he hasn’t quite been able to maintain that form.
Nevertheless, he has scored nine goals in as many games in the Europa Conference League, demonstrating his continued reliability as a goal scorer in Europe.
Although his summer valuation was over £30 million, it appears that he will be able to move to Ligue 1 for a very small cost.
Although reports state that Tottenham had lost interest in the striker, it will be interesting to watch how he does in one of Europe’s premier divisions.
Spurs might reexamine their interest in the future, particularly if Orban does well at Lyon.
In another related developments:
Tottenham target another Leicester City transfer after James Maddison
Spurs have reportedly expressed interest in Kasey McAteer of Leicester City.
After City was relegated from the Premier League, Spurs raided the Foxes in the summer to sign star James Maddison. It’s also now known that McAteer, a teenage winger, is a target for Ange Postecoglou’s team.
With his breakout performance at King Power Stadium this season, the 22-year-old has elevated Enzo Maresca’s team to the top of the Championship. McAteer has four goals in the league in 13 games, and in September, he scored in the EFL Cup against Liverpool.
Ben Jacobs also says Tottenham is interested in him because of his performance for Leicester. “The other player Tottenham are looking at, a different type of player to the ones we have mentioned is Kasey McAteer at Leicester, they really like him,” he revealed in an interview with Spurs Chat Podcast.
