Terem Moffi arrived in Porto on Thursday afternoon and was at Estádio do Dragão to watch FC Porto’s match against Rangers, which the Dragons won 3-1.
The Nigerian forward joins on loan until the end of the season, with a non-mandatory purchase option set at eight million euros, plus an additional 250,000 euros in performance-related bonuses. Nice will retain 10 per cent of any future profit from a sale.
Terem Moffi will wear the number 29 shirt for Porto, returning to a stadium he already knows, having started for Nice in their 3-0 defeat to the Dragons last November. The Nigerian international striker previously played alongside Pablo Rosario and was coached by Francesco Farioli at Nice.
Terem Moffi, born in Calabar, less than 40 kilometres from the Cameroonian border, is the third of four children of Leo Moffi, a former goalkeeper who once played for Vasco da Gama in Brazil. He left Nigeria at just 17 to join Buckswood Football Academy in England. After his experience in British football, he made his professional debut in Lithuania, first with Zalgiris Kaunas and then FK Riteriai.
After scoring 20 goals in 21 matches in the Lithuanian league, the left-footer caught the attention of Kortrijk and moved to Belgium. His time in Belgium was shorter than expected due to the pandemic, but it was still productive: in 11 games played in January, February, and August 2020, the 1.88-meter striker scored six times and then transferred to French side Lorient, where he made an immediate impact.
After scoring on his debut, he went on a run of five consecutive games with goals, followed by another streak of six goals in three matches. These performances allowed him to finish the 2020/21 season with 15 goals and earned him his first call-up to the Nigerian national team by Gernot Rohr. He made his debut in June 2021 against Cameroon and has since played for the Super Eagles on six occasions.
With eight goals and four assists after that, the newest Dragon started the 2022/23 season with 12 goals in 18 games and moved to the Côte d’Azur, where he scored 20 times - 11 of them under Francesco Farioli - and provided six assists alongside Pablo Rosario. Returning in March last year, he scored once in five games, and so far this season, he has three goals in 15 appearances.
