FC Porto have completed the signing of Nigerian striker, Terem Moffi, from French club OGC Nice, with the Super Eagles forward joining on loan until the end of the season with an option to make the transfer permanent for €8 million.
Terem Moffi, 26, becomes only the fifth Nigerian player to wear the famous blue and white of the Dragons, joining a short list that includes Abraham Marcus, Chidozie Awaziem, Mikel Agu and current Porto defender Zaidu Sanusi.
Sanusi, who arrived from Santa Clara in 2020, remains the most successful Nigerian in the club’s history, having made 141 appearances and scored eight goals. It is a standard Moffi will be keen to match or surpass as he begins a new chapter in Portugal.
Moffi’s move comes after a difficult period in France, where he has been sidelined since late November following an incident involving supporters at Nice. At Porto, he will wear the number 29 shirt and reunite with familiar figures, including midfielder Pablo Rosario and head coach Francesco Farioli, under whom he enjoyed some of his best football on the Côte d’Azur.
Moff, i who was born in Calabar, close to Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, left home at 17 to continue his football education in England with Buckswood Football Academy.
His professional career began away from the mainstream spotlight in Lithuania, where impressive goal returns for Žalgiris Kaunas and FK Riteriai highlighted his strength, pace and clinical finishing.
A prolific run of 20 goals in 21 league matches earned him a move to Belgian side Kortrijk, where he continued to impress before the Covid 19 pandemic disrupted the season. His performances soon caught the attention of Lorient, leading to a switch to Ligue 1.
In France, Moffi’s reputation grew rapidly. He scored 15 league goals in the 2020-21 season, earning his first Super Eagles call-up under Gernot Rohr in June 2021 against Cameroon. He followed that with an outstanding start to the 2022-23 campaign, scoring 12 goals in 18 matches before securing a transfer to Nice.
During his time at Nice, Moffi registered 20 goals in all competitions, with 11 of those coming under Farioli. Injuries and off-field interruptions, however, slowed his progress in recent months.
