West Ham United will have to be wary of Gent’s free-scoring striker Gift Orban when the Hammers head to the Ghelamco Arena on Thursday night.
David Moyes’ West Ham side take on Belgian outfit Gent in the first of two legs in their Europa Conference League quarter-final on Thursday, hoping to book a place in the semi-final of a European competition for a second consecutive season.
Standing in their way are a Gent side who themselves are in the last eight after knocking out Azerbaijani outfit Qarabag and Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir in their two knockout round matches.
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A big part of that success has been that of January signing Orban, with the young Nigerian forward joining Gent for just over £2.9million from Stabaek in January and since the move, he has scored for fun.
In 12 Gent appearances, Orban has scored 14 goals for the side managed by Hein Vanhaezebrouck, five of which have come in his first four appearances in Europe, making him joint-second in the scoring charts in the competition (from the group stage onwards).
Orban scored his first European goal in a 1-0 win over Qarabag in the second-leg of their play-off knockout round tie, which went to extra-time. Orban then scored in the 5-3 penalty shootout victory to book a place in the last 16.
Against Istanbul Basaksehir, Orban scored Gent’s goal in the 1-1 draw in the first leg before netting a three-minute hat-trick during a 4-1 win in Turkiye in the second leg to set up a meeting with West Ham.
His league form has also impressed, netting nine goals in eight Belgian Pro League matches, a run that has included netting four during a 6-2 win over Zulte Waregem and has taken his recent run of goals away from home to nine goals in three matches in all competitions.
In between his quadruple against Zulte Waregem and hat-trick in Turkiye, Gent boss Vanhaezebrouck spoke highly of Orban’s quality, with the striker being recently linked with transfer interest from Premier League duo Leeds United and Leicester City.
He has said that Orban is a naturally-born scorer, highlighted by his goal record of one every 57.6 minutes in Europe this season.
"Last season he made 22 appearances across all competitions in Norway,” Vanhaezebrouck told Voetbal Nieuws (as published by SABC Sport) last month.
"If you let him start the season, he is a guarantee of 20, 25 goals across all competitions. Finishing is fun for him. Right, left, he doesn't care."
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