20 year old Orban was signed from second division Norwegian side Stabæk for a fee of around €3m, a fee consider as excessive by a lot of people when the deal was announced. However his goals, three in the league and one in the Europa Conference League has quickly put to rest all doubts about the fee.
“The owners of Stabaek did not want to accept our proposal at first”, Vanhaezebrouck told the story of the transfer after his goal against Anderlecht over the weekend.
“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. 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.”
Pressed on if the 20 year old is provoking memories of Moses Simon, who made a similar impact at the club upon his arrival few years ago under the same coach, he said the similarity is there in the way they settled at the club almost immediately, he said the only difference is that Simon played on the wings while Orban is a forward.
“In his manner and in his character, yes,” the trainer agrees. “Gift is always positive, a play bird. He can also score like Simon”, he explained.
“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.”
