In the last couple of months, Gift Orban has gone from a relatively unknown striker playing for Stabæk in the Norwegian Eliteserien to scoring the fastest hat trick ever witnessed in a UEFA European club competition, with him scoring three goals in 205 seconds against Istanbul Basaksehir in the Europa Conference League. This hat trick brought Orban up to 12 goals scored in nine matches for the Belgian side, with him also recently scoring four goals in a 6-2 Gent win over Zulte-Waregem in the Belgian league.
This recent form has already brought many to the conclusion that he will not be with Gent for long, with him even potentially moving on this summer. While that is very much possible, Orban sticking at Gent for a full season would likely net Gent a hefty fee for the striker, likely much more than the €30 million Lille paid Gent a few seasons back for Canadian striker Jonathan David. This tactical analysis and scout report will take a look at Gift Orban in more detail, looking at video and data evidence that shows just why Gent will be expecting a hefty fee for the Nigerian striker.
Player profile
When it comes to the type of striker the Nigerian striker is, Orban is very much a clinical finisher when he is able to latch onto balls inside the penalty area, but he also has the physicality to be able to drop into the pockets of space to receive possession in deeper areas.
The image above shows Gift Orban’s heat map since he arrived at Gent in the January transfer window. Throughout his time participating in the Belgian Pro League and the UEFA Europa Conference League, the Nigerian striker does not just occupy the centre-backs inside the penalty area. As previously mentioned, Orban will drop into midfield to receive the ball in deeper positions, looking to assist in getting the ball into the final third.
However, the 20-year-old still finds most of his time in and around the penalty area, with his red-hot goalscoring run since joining the Belgian side indicative of his composure and clinical ability to find the back of the net. The Gent forward is not someone who gets bullied off the ball easily and will look to invite opposition defenders to engage him at times, which allows him to use his close control and dribbling ability in tight areas to get past them and into space. The next section will take a look at some players that are similar to Gift Orban, using xGOLD to be able to see the ten players in his position that are most similar to the Nigerian.
Player comparison using xGOLD
After searching to try and find players that are similar to the Nigerian forward using xGOLD, the ten most similar players are shown in the image below.
The top two names on this list are the most intriguing when looking at the players that are similar to Gift Orban based on the current 2022/23 season. The most similar player to the Nigerian is actually FC Porto’s Brazilian forward Evanilson. The 23-year-old has six goals and six assists for the Portuguese giants this season, with the Brazilian starting in 15 matches for Porto.
The next player that is most similar to Orban is actually his former teammate, 21-year-old Moroccan forward Ibrahim Salah. The Belgian-born Moroccan was sold by Gent in January to Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais for a fee of around €3 million. Before departing, Salah had 3 goals and 1 assist for Gent over 14 appearances in the Belgian Pro League. Orban was the man that Gent brought in to replace the Moroccan, and his start to life in Belgium has been spectacular as a result. After looking at the xGOLD results, the best striker to compare to Orban would be former Gent striker Ibrahim Salah, with Orban essentially being the direct replacement for the Belgian-born Moroccan striker.
Clinical in front of goal
When looking at the finishing ability of both Gift Orban and Ibrahim Salah, we can quite clearly see the difference between the two forwards, which can be highlighted by the xG data vizzes for both players shown below.
The image above shows the xG and shot map of Gift Orban since his move to Gent this past January. As we can see, the Nigerian striker has scored 12 goals on 4.96 xG, a pretty large overperformance. However, the majority of his shots have come from good areas inside the penalty box, with the majority of his shots also being on target, showing his ability to keep shots on target and at least always force the goalkeeper into a save.
The second data viz graphic shown above illustrates his performances in front of goal for Gent in the first half of this season before he transferred to Rennes in France in the January transfer window. While the Moroccan performed at about his xG, he has less xG per shot than the Nigerian striker. Orban has also had more shots in his time with the Belgian side so far, with a lot more being on target as well. Below are some examples of Gift Orban’s shot selection during his time with Gent so far.
The image above shows an example of the clinical finishing ability that Gift Orban possesses in front of goal. In the phase of play above against Westerlo in the Belgian Pro League earlier this season, this goal perfectly encapsulates the all-around attacking ability of the Nigerian striker. As the ball is circulated around the midfield, Orban does well to drop off the defender and into the midfield, with this forcing the defender into not knowing what to do when it comes to marking.
This is also not shown in the image above, but Orban can make a good run from deep beyond the last defender, with the ball played over the top and into the space that the striker is running into. The finish that is shown above is something rather spectacular, with the Nigerian striker able to track the ball over his shoulder before hitting the ball sweetly on the volley. The ensuing shot goes over the goalkeeper’s head and into the back of the net. While this finish surely won’t be worth a lot in xG, it shows just what Orban is capable of in front of goal.
The image above shows another example of the finishing ability that Gift Orban possesses, as well as being able to create space for himself to get a shot off on goal. In the phase of play above against Anderlecht in the Belgian league, the striker is 1v1 against the opposition defender when driving at goal. Orban is able to create space for himself before sending a shot into the far top corner, with the goalkeeper unable to save. The shot was perfectly placed, with Orban putting it where genuinely no goalkeeper in the world could possibly save the shot.
The image above shows the first-time finishing ability of Gift Orban, with the phase of play above demonstrating this. In a recent league match against Zulte-Waregem, where the Nigerian striker scored four goals, one of these goals is shown above. This attacking phase of play originates with the ball being played centrally from the wide area, with the cross sent in towards the centre of the penalty box.
Orban can position himself between the opposition centre-back and fullback, which allows him the ability to find just enough space to get a shot off on goal once the ball reaches him. However, the ball does not reach Orban quick enough for him to get an uncontested shot off on goal, with the opposition defender behind him able to recover and put him under pressure. The Nigerian striker is able to show his composure in this specific instance, with Orban able to take a shot first-time, with the ball struck perfectly and able to nestle in the bottom corner past the diving goalkeeper.
Gift Orban can bring a different dimension up front for Hein Vanhaezbrouck’s side since his arrival at the club in January. Ibrahim Salah had some really good performances for the club in the first half of the season, with them attracting the interest of Rennes who paid for his services. Both players are slightly different forwards in front of goal, which is shown by the xG and shot maps of both players. The Nigerian striker has been able to form a great partnership with strike partners Hugo Cuypers and Hyeon-seok Hong, with them becoming one of the better-attacking trios in the league since the turn of the year.
Ability to make space for himself with his dribbling ability
Another stat that will be compared between both Gift Orban and Ibrahim Salah is their ability to create space for themself with their dribbling ability. When looking at the dribbling statistics of the two forward players, the numbers easily show that Salah is the more prolific dribbler of the two. The data viz graphics below show the progressive runs and dribbles of both players, which illustrates Salah’s superior ability when it comes to getting past opposition defenders.
The data viz graphic above shows the ball progression statistics of Gift Orban since he joined Gent in January, with it illustrating his progressive runs and successful or unsuccessful dribbles. As the graphic shows, while he does not attempt to dribble past opponents often, Orban does look to do it at times to create space in the attacking third of the pitch. When looking at the deeper numbers, since joining Gent, the Nigerian striker attempts 2.91 dribbles per 90 minutes, with a success rate of 48%. It also is not the smallest sample size compared to Salah, with the graphics both looking at their time with Gent this season.
The image above shows the data viz graphic of Ibrahim Salah’s ball progression during the first half of this season when he was still with the Belgian side. Before looking at the graphic, the underlying statistics show that the Moroccan excels when it comes to his ability to run at opposition defenders.
During his time with Gent in the first half of the Belgian Pro League season, as well as the UEFA Europa Conference League campaign, Salah averaged 6.16 dribbles per 90 minutes, with a success rate of 60.3%. This is a much higher rate of both averaged dribbles and success rate than Orban, with the Nigerian looking to focus more on his positioning to get into good goalscoring areas. This is not to say that Orban will not utilise his dribbling ability to create space for himself or to find teammates, as this section will show.
The image above shows an example of the dribbling ability of Gift Orban, which allows him to get past opposition defenders when he is positioned out in the wide channels during transitional moments. In this phase of play above against Anderlecht, the Nigerian forward has the ball played to him by a teammate in a deeper-lying position. Instead of trying to receive the ball with his back to the defender and attempt to spin him, Orban instead lets the ball run beyond him.
He is then able to use a quick turn of pace and acceleration to be able to spin the defender, driving into the open space and latching onto the pass. The opposition fullback has no choice but to grab onto Orban to try and stop his progression, which would have elicited a foul. However, Orban is able to stay up and continue to accelerate away from the defenders, driving into the penalty box with the defenders following behind. The resulting phase ends in a shot on goal for Orban, with this end result due to his ability to dribble away from the opposition after letting the ball run past the defender.
The image above shows another example of the dribbling ability of Gift Orban, this time with the ball at his feet driving at an opposition defender. As he gets himself into a 1v1 situation with the fullback, Orban can wrong foot the fullback, sending him the wrong way, which allows the striker to cut inside and drive into the vacant space between the fullback and centre-back.
As this occurs, it allows Orban time to attempt to find his teammate making a run into the penalty box off the back shoulder of the defender in the middle of the image. Unfortunately, Orban’s pass is not able to reach his intended target, but due to his dribbling ability, the striker can open up some space for himself to progress the ball into the penalty box. Even though it leads to nothing, it still was the better option as opposed to continuing to drive towards the byline and having the potential to be dispossessed.
As this section has shown, Gift Orban is not nearly as much of a dribbler as the player that he replaced at Gent, Ibrahim Salah. While they are totally different in regards to their style of ball progression when they reach the attacking third area of the pitch, both players still are able to take players on with their dribbling ability and beat them in 1v1 situations. In Salah’s case, he was more active in the wide channels of the pitch for Gent, as the data viz graphic earlier in this section showed. While Orban also drifts into these wide areas to gather possession of the ball, he is not as comfortable in these areas.
This is not what Gift Orban is strongest at though, he is instead a centre-forward who is clinical in front of goal and looks to create space and angles for himself by clever movement and positioning off the ball.
Conclusion
As this tactical analysis and scout report has shown, Gift Orban has had an absolutely amazing start to life in Belgium with KAA Gent. This piece also looked at and compared the Nigerian striker to the man he essentially replaced, Ibrahim Salah. Using the xGOLD software, we were able to see that he is very similar to Orban and looked slightly more in detail at a couple of their potential similarities.
It would not be surprising if Gift Orban was not in the Belgian Pro League for long, with this lightning-quick start attracting the interest of suitors around Europe. It’d be unsurprising if clubs known for nurturing young talent, such as Borussia Dortmund, Ajax, or even Napoli if they lose Orban’s compatriot Victor Osimhen in the summer, came in for him. Whatever happens, Gift Orban has a very bright future at the top level of European football, with the Nigerian striker definitely being one to watch in the future.
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