Nigerian Striker Orban’s High Salary Gambit to Revive Olympique Lyonnais

Olympique Lyonnais has signed a contract with Gift Emmanuel Orban in an attempt to salvage the dismal 2023/2024 season. Shining in the previous season of the Belgian league, the talented footballer has slowed down a bit, yet remains one of the most interesting young players from Nigeria in French Ligue 1. The Kick Off Nigeria looks into the financial story of the striker.

Gift Emmanuel Orban’s Salary and Prospects at Olympique Lyonnais

The Nigerian striker joined the French club in the winter of 2024, with a contract running until June 30, 2028. Over the course of four years in France, the Nigerian will earn 7,280,000 euros, excluding bonuses. For the 2023/2024 season, Orban will earn 1,820,000 euros, which equates to 35,000 euros per week.

Team Salary Overview: Orban – The Highest-Paid African Player on the Team

For the 2023/2024 season, Olympique Lyonnais’s total salary expenditure amounts to 45,990,000 euros a year, that is, 884,423 euros a week: only three Ligue 1 clubs spend more on salaries. The team’s highest-paid player is midfielder Nemanja Matic. The former Serbian national team player receives 5,450,000 euros a year: 104,808 euros a week. Gift Emmanuel Orban, in turn, is 11th in the salary rankings and shares this spot with Belgian midfielder Orel Mangala. This is the seventh-highest salary among foreign players at the French club. In addition, the Nigerian striker is the highest-paid African player at Olympique Lyonnais. 

Gift Emmanuel Orban is the second highest-paid Nigerian in Ligue 1. Only FC Nantes winger Moses Simon earns more, with a salary almost 1.5 times higher. Completing the top three, OGC Nice striker Terem Moffi earns more than twice as less.

Career Salary Comparison 

During a season at Stabaek Fotball, the Nigerian striker managed 26 goal contributions and was named the best young player in Norway’s First Division. Thanks to his bright performances, the Nigerian signed a contract with K.A.A. Gent already in the winter of 2023, moving to Belgium increased Orban’s salary by almost eight times. 

The move to the Belgian club allowed the striker to make a name for himself in leading European competitions. Within a calendar year, Gift Emmanuel Orban managed to score 10 goals in the UEFA Conference League, becoming the second-best scorer in the history of the tournament to date, reached the quarterfinals in the 2022/2023 season, and also set a new record for the fastest hat-trick in UEFA club competitions. Becoming a key player for K.A.A. Gent, the Nigerian attracted the attention of several Premier League and Bundesliga clubs: Eintracht Frankfurt planned to sign the striker in the winter transfer window. However, Orban chose Olympique Lyonnais and joined the French team at the end of January 2024. 

Thanks to the move to the Ligue 1 club, the player’s earnings increased almost sixfold. Thus, the Nigerian now receives the highest salary in his career. 

Market Value: A 200-Fold Increase in Just One Year 

After spending the 2022 season in Norway’s second league, Gift Emmanuel Orban not only scored 16 goals, becoming the top scorer of the tournament but also led his team to the elite division. In just six months at Stabaek Fotball, the Nigerian’s transfer value increased tenfold. In his very first match for K.A.A. Gent, the striker scored, and by the end of the 2022/2023 season, he managed to increase his total goals in all competitions to 20. Thanks to a strong start in Belgium and reaching the quarterfinals of the UEFA Conference League, by the summer of 2023, Orban’s transfer sum increased twentyfold, reaching its peak. 

Nevertheless, in the current season, the Nigerian striker has not been as bright: in addition to three goals in 17 Belgian league matches, there have been disciplinary problems. Because of this, the market value of Gift Emmanuel Orban has decreased by almost 1.5 times: Transfermarkt currently values the transfer sum of the striker at 15 million euros. Despite the decrease in value, the young Nigerian ranks fourth among the most expensive players of the French club.

Achievements with the National Team 

Orban did not make the squad for Nigeria for the African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. It is speculated that the striker did not receive a call-up to the Nigerian national team due to a dispute between the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and the football organization in Togo. Togolese claim that the young Orban is eligible to play for Togo because his mother is from that country. Nevertheless, the striker himself asserts that he is waiting for an invitation from the Nigerian team.

Football and Financial Prospects 

The striker started the 2023/2024 season at K.A.A. Gent. In 17 match days of the Belgian league, Orban managed to score three goals. The Nigerian showed himself much brighter in the UEFA Conference League: he scored 10 goals in 10 games. For Olympique Lyonnais, the Nigerian striker made his debut immediately after signing the contract: he played 45 minutes in the match against Stade Rennais F.C. Now, Orban faces the task of adapting to Ligue 1 football. If the striker helps the French team emerge from the crisis and retain its place in the elite division, there is a possibility that he can not only re-sign the contract on more favorable terms but also get a chance to make it into the national team.