Grumbling among many fans of KAA Gent on the morning of February 1.
They awoke to the unexpected news that youth product Ibrahim Salah had left for Rennes in France for a million sum.
His replacement? The unknown Gift Orban from the Norwegian second division club Stabaek. Nevertheless, the Buffalos paid no less than 3.5 million euros for the 20-year-old striker.
That turned out to have been an unexpected direct hit a month later.
“The owners of Stabaek did not want to accept our proposal at first”, Vanhaezebrouck told the story of the transfer yesterday.
“We wanted to pay much less than the asking price. But due to the offer for Salah on the last day, we ended up paying much more than we had planned. That’s how Stabaek still folded.”
“Now no one will say that we paid too much money,” grinned Vanhaezebrouck, who underlined that the scouting had tracked down Orban.
“It’s a real stroke of luck. It doesn’t work immediately either, because Orban was actually a long-term player who was given time to mature. Fortunately, he is doing great right away.”
The flashy start of the cheerful Nigerian is reminiscent of that of his compatriot Moses Simon a few years ago. His impact was then crucial for KAA Gent in the way to the title.
Vanhaezebrouck also sees similarities. “In his manner and in his character, yes,” the trainer agrees. “Gift is always positive, a play bird. He can also score like Simon.”
“Only Gift is not a flank player, but rather a target striker. He bounces, seeks depth and can finish well. Only some steps still need to be taken conditionally. Now we are pushing him to the limit.”
“You often see Gift suffering because he is completely broken. But because he has so much character, he goes deep again on the next ball. However, we have to make sure that we do not lose him.”
Vanhaezebrouck concluded with an amusing anecdote: “Saturday at training, he fired in an incredible ball. Everyone was watching with open mouths. Actually, I prefer not to see that during training, because players save something like that better for the matches. (laughs) ) But if they can do it every day, it’s good, isn’t it?
