He conquered Norway, and he reached for the stars in Belgium, but suddenly Gift Orban has experienced a downward spiral since he moved to the French top flight to play in the colours of Olympique Lyonnais.
Once touted as the next big Super Eagles star with a bright future ahead of him, Orban has failed to establish himself at Lyon since he sought greener pastures away from Belgian giants Gent.
Recently, he has been in the news for the wrong reasons.
First, he was dropped from their Ligue 1 first team squad in October after he refused to train with other players who have not been playing regularly while he was also left out of the squad to face Lille in November 1 after commenting on a post by Sinaly Diomande, a former Lyon player who scored against them in the previous weekend.
😬🔴🔵 Nigerian & Lyon Forward, Gift Orban has been Left out of the OL squad 🆚 Lille tonight after commenting on a post by Sinaly Diomandé, a former Lyon player who scored against OL last weekend.
He will be received by management and risks losing his ethics bonus and as well… pic.twitter.com/E9QAX7wRi6
— Football Fans Tribe 🇳🇬 ⚽ (@FansTribeHQ) November 1, 2024
Since moving to the French powerhouse in January, Orban has found form and game time hard to come by, managing 16 league appearances the whole year, and in a peripheral role which has seen him score three goals across the 2022/23 season and the current campaign.
Lyon certainly had high hopes of a player who seemed to have the world at his feet in Belgium and Norway, grabbing the headlines on a consistent basis.
The 21-year-old first impressed while representing Stabaek FC in Norway’s second division, finishing as the top scorer with 16 goals to help them win promotion to the top flight in 2022 while he also bagged another 19 goals in 24 appearances to make him one of the country’s most feared attackers.
⏰ 3 minutes & 25 seconds ⏰
Gift Orban has scored the fastest hat-trick in UEFA club competitions 👏@KAAGent || #UECL pic.twitter.com/oWJVllmV2a
— UEFA Conference League (@europacnfleague) March 15, 2023
Belgian Pro League side KAA Gent snapped his signature soon after for €3.30 million in January 2023 and he made instant impact, scoring nine goals in his first few games, including a stunning brace on his Pro League debut and a historic four-goal haul against Zulte Waregem that earned him the status of the first player from the club to score four goals in a single Pro League game this century.
His surprise omission from Jose Peseiro’s initial 40-man squad for the African Cup of Nations earlier in the year raised eyebrows after injury had prevented him from featuring in a qualifier game against Sao Tome and Principe
The Benue-born forward will definitely aim to do more than dance in a Super Eagles apparel, as he was seen doing in a video on social media during the Super Eagles’ AFCON campaign but he might have to consider reigniting his career away from Lyon.
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Speculations over his future were in full flow during the summer as he was linked with moves to various clubs, including Turkish side Trabzonspor, who could not meet the €12 million valuation of the striker by Lyon.
Simply sensational. Orban seems different though. This is elite level talent but time will tell how far he goes
— Ayomide Sotubo (@AyomideSotubo) March 15, 2023
Perhaps a move back to Belgium may also suffice as he would need a comfortable environment where he could feature regularly if he was ever going to recover the form that shot him into the limelight.
