Club chief confirms West Ham missed out on nine-cap Nigeria international in January

Lorient president Loïc Féry has confirmed that Premier League side West Ham United missed out on signing nine-cap Nigeria international Terem Moffi in the recently concluded transfer window.  

The Hammers, who were in the market for a center forward, saw a bid accepted by Lorient, but couldn't get the deal over the line because Moffi had already made up his mind to join OGC Nice. 

OGC Nice eventually won the race for the 23-year-old, thanks to their offer of 30 million euros, via a loan until the end of the 2022-2023 season with a mandatory purchase option. 

Féry blasted the Eaglets for pressurizing the player to join the club and stressed that the transfer should never have taken place. 

Moffi has grabbed attention for his impressive performances in the French Ligue 1 this season, scoring 12 goals in nineteen appearances, and missed the last two games played by Lorient in January due to speculation surrounding his future.  

"We had accepted an offer from Marseille and another from West Ham which were within our parameters. When you close the door, you have to know how to hear it," Féry said to L'Equipe. 

"There, Nice continued to solicit our player, even if there was no agreement. He was very unsettled. When you say the exit conditions are "X" and the first offer is a third of "X", it is a destabilizing factor.

"You say no once, twice... In Nice, they learn in their structuring and I think they will have to operate differently because if they have the ambition they display, they cannot destabilize all the clubs.

"This was the case in Lens, this is the case in Lorient. There was a lack of consideration, it's a shame, but we explained ourselves."

Moffi has already made his debut for his new employer, logging 73 minutes against one of his suitors last month, Marseille. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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