Tottenham may have been handed their chance to sign summer target Gift Orban on the cheap, with KAA Gent now open to a sale.
That’s according to Het Laatste Nieuws, who cover the player today and how the decision not to sell in the summer has come back to haunt the Belgian side.
They explain that the former Promise of the Year had the chance to move in the summer window, with Lille making him a priority to replace Jonathan David, Tottenham in the mix because their scouts were ‘convinced’ and Fulham making a bid after losing Aleksandr Mitrovic.
Gent, though, resisted all bids as, bolstered by a capital injection of €11m from brand new owner Sam Baro, they didn’t need the money from a sale.
They were convinced Orban could build on his highly impressive first season and keep his value rising so demanded €30m, a figure which no club, even Tottenham with the money from Harry Kane’s sale, wanted to pay.
Orban remained but has struggled ever since. The goal machine has ‘stalled’, even in training, with 12 goals in 29 games in all competitions considered a big drop off given he managed 20 in 22 last season.
That’s seen his market value plummet, with him now valued at €15m by the likes of Transfermarkt, and Eintracht Frankfurt recently quoted €20m by Gent.
According to HLN the Belgian side are now ‘open to a sale’ in this market, albeit if they can get the right price and find a replacement first.
Thus, the opportunity is there for Tottenham to potentially get their man. Their scouts were reportedly ‘convinced’ by the striker when watching him last season, it was only his price that stopped a deal happening.
That figure has now dropped considerably and with their forward like still lacking an out and out striker, Orban could still fit the bill and now fall into the budget too.
Of course, his drop in goal ratio isn’t a positive but then, who better to get him firing than Ange Postecoglou, the man who has apparently revived the struggling Richarlison?
