The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare has suggested that Tottenham Hotspur could opt to sign Gent forward Gift Orban due to his ‘extraordinary’ numbers.
Eccleshare has been speaking on The View From The Lane and provided an update on Tottenham’s search for a Harry Kane replacement.
Of course, Kane completed a switch to Bayern Munich over the weekend and Spurs are now searching for a new forward.
The likes of Brennan Johnson, Jonathan David and Gift Orban have all been linked as Tottenham target a younger profile.
Links to Orban seem to be popping up more frequently than others, with Gent set to demand around £23 million for the striker.
And if Spurs do press ahead with their attempts to land the 21-year-old, it could be down to their new ‘data-led’ approach.
Tottenham could opt for ‘data-led’ signing Orban
Speaking on The View From The Lane, Eccleshare provided an update on Tottenham’s interest in Orban.
“The other name that keeps coming up in my conversations is Gift Orban, the Gent striker who is a really exciting prospect and as we reported in that piece, his numbers are extraordinary and obviously Spurs have this new, more data-led way of looking at players and the numbers there are the data on him is incredible,” he said.
Host Danny Kelly then asked whether Orban’s numbers could be skewed due to the standard of Belgian football.
And Eccleshare claims that Spurs are currently trying to weigh up whether or not Orban could make the step up to Premier League football.
“That’s the dilemma, that’s what they’re trying to weigh up,” the journalist added.
“Are these numbers because primarily he’s playing in not such a good standard or are they relative to their development and he’s going to keep getting better and could do that at Premier League level?”
Orban registered 22 goal involvements in as many appearances for Gent last season and it’s no surprise he’s leading the way when it comes to his numbers.
Tottenham are taking more of a data-led approach this summer as they bid to build a side in Ange Postecoglou’s image.
In Orban, they would be getting a striker who has shown he has a keen eye for goal and he’s already netted five times in four games this season.
But it would be a gamble for Spurs to bring in the Nigerian forward, despite his brilliant numbers in Belgium.
There is no guarantee that his goalscoring form will translate to Premier League football. But as an option to compete with Richarlison who would cost just north of £20 million, it would surely be a risk worth taking.
