Tottenham transfers: Angry club chief wants price of striker target ramped up: ‘Why do Ajax sell players like Antony for €95m’
Gift Orban is a Tottenham target
The chief executive of Belgian club Gent has called on clubs in his homeland to ramp up the prices of their top stars amid continued Tottenham interest in striker Gift Orban.
Spurs were linked with a host of strikers over the summer window as it looked increasingly likely that talisman Harry Kane would be sold, something Daniel Levy eventually caved in to after a huge offer from Bayern Munich.
They eventually ended up settling on paying £47.5million on Nottingham Forest forward Brennan Johnson. However, with the Wales international not a straight swap for Kane, the north London club are still expecting to dip into the market again in January.
And, if they do, Orban is once again expected to be very high on their list of central striking options.
The Nigerian netted 20 goals in 22 games for Gent last season and has carried that form over to the new campaign, notching six times in nine outings thus far.
However, Orban is only valued at £17million by Transfermarkt, with Gent hoping to get significantly more than that that if they do decide to sell.
The Belgian club were asking for around €30m (£25.7m) for Orban when Spurs were linked with the player in the summer. And now, chief executive Michel Louwagie has gone on a rant over why clubs in Belgium are not able to bring in big transfer fees for talented players.
That is in stark contrast to their neighbours in the Netherlands, with their biggest clubs often recouping huge transfer fees.
Gent chief wants higher fee for Tottenham target
A clearly frustrated Louwagie, when speaking about Orban’s modest price tag, told Het Nieuwsblad: “That has already made me angry.
“Why do Ajax and PSV sell players like Antony for €95million (£81.6million) and others for easily €40million-€50million (£34.3million-£42.9million)?
“And why should we think that €30million (£25.8million) is too much, even though the competition here is at least as good (as in the Eredivisie)?
“But we are Flemish. (We) look at each other’s plates and are jealous, instead of all demanding higher prices and helping Belgian football progress. We really need to stop doing that.”
Given those comments, Tottenham may well discover that Orban’s price has skyrocketed once January rolls around, especially if he keeps on scoring at his current rate.
Ange Postecoglou’s men are back in Premier League action on Saturday when they host Sheffield United.
READ MORE: Exclusive: Postecoglou to haunt Celtic as Tottenham plot £25m-plus raid for irrepressible star
