Gent chief confirms Gift Orban is not for sale amid rumours linking striker with Barcelona, Portuguese duo

Published: April 20, 2023

KAA Gent Technical Director, Michel Louwagie has confirmed that Gift Orban is not for sale in the summer amid rumors linking the striker with Barcelona, Porto and Benfica in recent days.

The former Stabæk Fotball star has also been linked with a move to the Premier League, with Leicester City and Leeds United credited with an interest.

Allnigeriasoccer.com exclusively reported thirty seven days ago that Orban has no immediate plans to leave Gent despite rumors suggesting that he could be jumping ship in the summer.

Orban joined Gent in the January transfer window and has been exceptional since making his debut for the Buffalos.

Asked how he'll convince Orban to say, Louwagie told De Morgen : "Gift is a luxury problem. He still has a contract until 2027, and we didn't get him at the end of January to sell again in July. We've never done that before."

Reacting to speculation that Orban is valued at 20 million euros, he said : "I am not going to comment on those 20 million. (laughs) We'll see what the price will be.

"I once put 20 million euros on Moses Simon's head, yes, but that was because the Dutch sell for 40, 50, 60 and now even 100 million euros. But when I talked about 20 million, it sounded: 'That Louwagie catches them'."

Orban has notched 9 goals and two assists in 9 games in the Belgian Pro-League, which is an average of a goal per game.

The 20-year-old has also been in red-hot form in the Europa Conference League, scoring 5 goals in five games.

This included a hat trick in Gent's UEFA Europa Conference League round of 16 second leg win over İstanbul Başakşehir which is the fastest hat-trick scored in the history of UEFA club competition.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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