Terem Moffi was one of the biggest revelations of the French Ligue 1 last season when his goals helped FC Lorient to escape relegation.
Then Ligue 2 champions Lorient took a massive gamble when they splashed out a record eight Million Euros to sign the young striker after just a dozen appearances for modest Belgian club KV Kortrijk.
Coach Christophe Pelissier revealed: “I pushed the club president by saying he was really the player who suited the style of football that I wanted to play.
“It was a risk that the president took.
“He said to me, ‘You know he only played six (league) games (in Belgium).’
“I said to him, ‘I think he has a big potential and he will express himself at our club.”
Moffi promptly repaid such confidence by firing 14 goals in Ligue 1, scoring against the likes of PSG, AS Monaco and Bordeaux for Lorient to stay put in the French top flight.
“Terem is a man of gold,” further remarked the Lorient coach.
“It’s amazing the state of mind of this player.
“He ticks all the boxes of a top-level player.”
It is therefore not much of a surprise the name of the exciting, left-footed striker, who started in little Lithuania, has popped up in several transfer stories in the off-season with reports suggesting interest by top Bundesliga side Borussia Dormund.
Moffi himself has big dreams.
“He dreams of playing for Nigeria at the World Cup,” revealed his father Leo Moffi, who was a goalkeeper for several NPFL clubs like Enugu Rangers and El Kanemi.
“He also believes that if his career follows the right path, playing for the right clubs and with the right coaches, he can become the African Footballer of the Year and win the Golden Ball.”
He is already on the path to feature at next year’s World Cup in Qatar after he made his long-awaited debut against Cameroon last month in Austria.
