One time Super Eagles invitee Gift Orban ended his nightmare stay at French Ligue 1 side Lyon after agreeing a deal to join German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim on a long term deal.
Orban joined Lyon one year ago after an extra ordinary year at Belgium side Gent where he scored 32 goals. He failed to replicate the same form with the French side with just five goals to his name in 21 games.
The 22 year old was handed a maiden call up to the Nigerian team in 2023 for the dead rubber AFCON qualifiers game against Sao Tome and Principe by then head coach Jose Peseiro, but didn’t get to play in the game Nigeria won 6-0.
We exclusively gathered that he was excused from the team due to complexity surrounding his nationality, with claims that he already represented Togo with a different identity years ago. The report went viral in the Togolese media forcing Peseiro to axe him from his team all through his stay.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) were said to have received documents, pictures and also a social media page linked to him in the past, which further complicated his case despite claims by the player that he is a Nigerian raised in Togo, and only wants to play for Nigeria.
NFF didn’t follow up on the issue, and it could remain so for the 22 year old who is hoping to get his career back on track with Hoffenheim after a year to forget in France.
Ade Emmanuel
