By: Omachonu Kelvin
Scoring five goals in seven games did not register in football fans’ minds especially as he did it for the Belgian club Gent. However, the world’s attention was joggled after Gift Orban scored seven goals in two games. To put it into context, he scored four goals in one game for Gent. Then three days later, he scored a hat-trick in four minutes for his club in the UEFA Europa League.
The 20-year-old striker looks too good to be true, and Gent must be in awe of their luck, especially as they bought him from Norwegian second-tier club Stabaek for just € 3.5 million in January.
Despite his free-scoring form, it is important to note that it could be just a good patch for him and not necessarily class. Still, looking at his stats and the way he plays could help to predict if Orban will go on to do big things.
Orban has always been a Goalscorer
Orban’s sojourn in Europe began last year, but he announced himself as a notorious goalscorer. He scored 19 goals in 24 games for Stabaek before he was signed by Genk. He also likes to get involved with play. Orban has averaged 36 touches per game since he arrived at Gent.
The 20-year-old attacker also has an eye for the pass. He makes three key passes per game at Gent, and he uses the ball well, which is not surprising because of his lower center of gravity. Also, Orban presses from the front. He has a brilliant work rate, winning the ball almost twice a game.
As a striker, aside from your ability to score, great positioning is also key. Orban is quite intelligent in the way he positions himself in the box. He is great at peeling away from defenders and creating space and giving his teammates an option to pass to.
However, one of his drawbacks is his lack of physicality. He wins just 30 percent of his duels, and if he is going to be a top striker, he would have to get that area sorted. Also, he is poor in aerial situations because of his height.
Nonetheless, Orban has the attributes of a good striker. What he has achieved so far is not a fluke, albeit some areas of his game have to be worked on. But if he can improve on what he has, he could become one of the top strikers in the world in a few years.
