Gift Orban, Hellas Verona’s top scorer this season, has broken his silence on the club’s worsening relegation predicament, taking to social media to voice his growing frustration after another damaging defeat in Italy’s top flight.
The Nigerian forward, who joined Verona on loan from Hoffenheim with an option for a permanent transfer, has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise difficult campaign. Orban has netted seven times in 27 Serie A appearances, making him the club’s leading scorer — yet his individual contributions have done little to lift Verona off the foot of the table. The club currently occupies 19th place with just 18 points to their name.
Following a 2-1 defeat to Torino at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino on Saturday, Orban turned to his official Instagram page to share his despondency with supporters. “You work hard, but the results never come; it’s like giving up,” he wrote, in a message that resonated widely among fans of the club.
Orban entered the Torino clash as a second-half substitute but was unable to alter the outcome. Goals from Giovanni Simeone and Cesare Casadei condemned Verona to their 20th league defeat of the season — a sobering milestone that underlines just how troubled the campaign has been.
With only six fixtures remaining in the 2025-26 Serie A season, Verona’s path to survival has narrowed considerably. The club must find a way to accumulate points rapidly if they are to overhaul the teams immediately above them in the standings and avoid the drop to Serie B.
Orban’s situation at Verona has not been without controversy. Earlier in the season, the club found themselves embroiled in a separate incident involving the forward, after a post related to a contentious red card he received attracted significant attention, with Orban himself noting the differential treatment faced by Black players in Italian football — a claim Verona publicly denied at the time.
The 23-year-old forward, who came through the ranks at Gent before moving to Hoffenheim, has shown enough quality during his loan spell to suggest he is capable of performing at Serie A level. However, translating that individual form into points for a struggling side has proved elusive, a challenge that is far from unique to Orban among players at relegation-threatened clubs.
For Verona, the coming weeks represent a final opportunity to mount a survival push. The squad will need to rediscover collective cohesion and convert performances into victories — something that has eluded them for much of the campaign. Orban, as the team’s primary attacking threat, is likely to be central to any late charge for safety.
