Hibernian suffered the indignity of losing to Andorran side Inter Club d'Escaldes during the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, and although they have the home leg to come, manager Lee Johnson needs something to click.
The Easter Road outfit sold Kevin Nisbet to Millwall, and despite adding Adam Le Fondre and Elie Youan to his attacking options, they need another striker.
Will Hibs sign Dylan Vente?
According to reports in The Netherlands (via The Edinburgh Evening News), Hibs are close to securing a move for Roda JC striker Dylan Vente in the coming days.
There was interest from Championship sides Sunderland and Swansea City, while Italian outfits Palermo and Pisa were also keeping tabs on the Dutchman, yet it appears he is set to move to the capital.
By securing £2m from the sale of Nisbet, Johnson is expected to splash £700k of that on Vente according to the Dutch media (via The Edinburgh Evening News) and there is no doubt that another forward is desperately required, especially with the Premiership season less than a week away.
Could Dylan Vente replace Kevin Nisbet at Hibs?
The departure of the former Raith Rovers striker was inevitable, especially considering his success at the club over the previous few seasons.
Since arriving from Dunfermline Athletic in 2020 having netted 18 goals in the second tier, Nisbet took to the Premiership like a duck to water, settling in with ease.
Across 101 matches for Hibs, he scored 39 goals and grabbed 12 assists, and this meant he scored or assisted once every two games for the club.
There is no doubt he will be missed, but if Johnson wishes to improve on the fifth-place finish from last term, he will have to bring someone in who could match Nisbet’s clinical nature. Vente may be the ideal candidate.
The 24-year-old has played in his homeland for his entire career, representing clubs such as Feyenoord, RKC Waalwijk and now Roda, even winning a Dutch Cup and two Super Cup medals during his time in Rotterdam.
His spell at Roda has been the most productive of his career thus far, scoring an impressive 51 goals in just 96 matches, and he shone during the 2022/23 campaign.
Although he was playing in the Dutch second tier, Vente ranked third across the squad for overall Sofascore match rating (7.29), while also finishing top of the pile for goals and assists (27), shots on target per game (1.5) and second for goal frequency (a goal every 160 minutes), suggesting that he was a key attacking outlet for the side.
His figures were so impressive that he would have ranked as Hibs’ joint-best performer alongside Joe Newell while ranking first for goals and assists, shots on target per game and second for scoring frequency, indicating that he would significantly improve the attacking options at the club.
With Johnson needing a win in their upcoming European second-leg encounter, plus a decent start in the league, the former Sunderland boss will be hoping the move for Vente goes through ahead of schedule to help ease the loss of Nisbet.
