German Bundesliga club TSG Hoffenheim has officially confirmed the acquisition of Gift Orban, a 2023 Super Eagles invitee, through a statement on their website. Orban arrives from the French club Olympique Lyon.
He has signed a contract lasting four and a half years, which will extend until the conclusion of the 2028-2029 season.
The transfer fee for Orban is reported to be nine million euros, along with an additional €3 million in performance-related bonuses, which includes one million euros guaranteed, as well as a 7.5% share of any future transfer profit.
The dual-national forward, eligible to represent Togo through his mother, participated in sixteen Ligue 1 matches while at Lyon, in addition to five appearances in Cup competitions, which included two in the Europa League, totaling twenty-one games.
Orban, who netted five goals for Lyon, made a significant impact early in the season with a crucial double against Strasbourg, contributing to an impressive 4-3 win for Les Gones.
In pursuit of a new sporting challenge and the aspiration to explore different opportunities, Orban has chosen to transition to the Bundesliga after previous experiences in Norway, Belgium, and France.
“In Gift Orban we have found exactly the fast striker with good depth that we were looking for,” says Andreas Schicker, Managing Director of Sport at TSG, adding: “Gift has repeatedly demonstrated his goal threat and his joy of playing in his previous positions, so we are convinced that his skills will give our team greater variability in attack.”
Gift Orban moved from Belgian first division club KAA Gent to Olympique Lyon in France in January 2024. There he played 21 competitive matches for the traditional French club in Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the Europa League (5 goals) over the past twelve months. Before that, between January 2023 and January 2024, Orban played a total of 52 competitive matches for KAA Gent in the Belgian league, the Belgian Cup competition, the Europa League qualifiers and the Conference League. In these games, the 22-year-old striker scored 32 goals and provided two assists.
Orban received his footballing education in his Nigerian homeland at Bison FC and was loaned from there to the then Norwegian second division club Stabæk Fotball in 2022. There he immediately became a key player, becoming top scorer with 16 goals in 22 games. During this season he was also voted the best young player in the Norwegian second division and then also rose to the Norwegian first division with Stabæk Fotball at the end of this season.
Orban links up with Super Eagles central defender Kevin Akpoguma at Hoffenheim, who sit fifteenth in the Bundesliga table with fourteen points from fifteen games.
