Sky Germany and Fabrizio Romano reports that Hoffenheim are on the verge of completing their first transfer of the winter as Lyon’s Gift Orban is set to join the club.
Orban will move to Sinsheim for around €9m and will complete his medical at the Bundesliga side soon. Since moving to the Rhône-Alpes region of France, the Nigerian has struggled but he has also found himself in a struggling club as well. Which due to Lyon’s provisional relegation has forced his sale at a cut price.
The 22-year-old showed his talent when he was in Belgium at Gent. In 52 appearances he scored 32 times most notably scoring 20 goals in 22 games in his first season. The pipeline from Belgium to the Bundesliga is usually a good one with Victor Boniface, Mohamed Amoura and even Deniz Undav (with a brief stop in Brighton) have all been successful.
However, Orban does find himself moving to another problem club as Hoffenheim currently sit just above the relegation zone in 15th place. The arrival of Christian Ilzer has not improved the side and despite spending a lot of money in the summer, do not look like they are heading in the right direction either. The only reason they are not yet in the relegation zone is due to how bad the teams below them are.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
