Terem Moffi, a striker from Nigeria, reportedly completed a medical at OGC Nice ahead of his €30 million signing from French Ligue 1 club Lorient on the final day of the January transfer window.
This comes after Nice made a seventh bid to Lorient for the Nigeria international who missed training on Monday after being left out of Lorient’s 2-1 win over Rennes last Friday – a move that sparked rumors of his impending exit from the club.
Nice had been in battle with Premier League sides West Ham United, Southampton, Bournemouth and Ligue 1 rivals Olympique Marseille over the transfer of the in-form 23-year-old, who has scored 12 goals in 18 Ligue 1 games.
French journalist Saber Desfarges on Monday tweeted, “Medical visit in progress for Terem Moffi, a step away from OGC Nice.”
Another journalist @AntoineGegat also tweeted a picture of the Nigerian at the Lorient airport before his departure to Nice and wrote, “The Nigerian striker flies to Nice, where he will sign for the club by tomorrow (today). End of a story of two and a half seasons, with 35 goals in 90 matches for the Merlus.”
Joining Nice had been a priority for Moffi, who rejected a move to Marseille and also turned down a move to West Ham, who are currently struggling in the Premier League.
The Hammers had offered a £20m plus £5m in add-ons for the Nigerian but the striker had opted against moving to the Premier League to continue his development in France.
Lorient had held on to their €30m valuation of the player, which proved too much for both the Saints and the Clarets.
With the deal completed, according to reports, it ends a fruitful two-and-a-half-year spell at Lorient, where he scored 35 goals in 90 matches for Les Merlus.
Moffi will also become the fifth Nigerian to play for Nice after Jero Shakpore, Victor Agali, Onyekachi Apam, and Nduka Ozokwo.
