Nigeria manager Gernot Rohr believes Lorient young star Terem Moffi can become a good striker in future given his qualities.

The German football tactician has yet to run the rule over the 21-year-old at close quarters as the player was prevented from linking up with the national team last month for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against the Republic of Benin and Lesotho.

Moffi recently made the headlines back in his homeland after netting his first career hat-trick in the French Ligue 1 against a club very close to Rohr's heart, Bordeaux and he is among the strikers in the frame to be called up for the World Cup qualifiers.

"Christophe Pelissier (the Lorient coach) is in a better position than I to know, because he sees him every day in training," Rohr told French newspaper Ouest France (subscription required).

"Personally, I am waiting to see him in training. I think he can be a good striker, although the bar is quite high in Nigeria, there have always been good center-forwards.

"But I must say that the progress he is making at Lorient is impressive."

Moffi has been in immaculate form in the French top-flight since the beginning of this calendar year, scoring 12 goals in seventeen games, bettered only by Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe who has mustered 13 goals.

Rohr added : "He gained confidence. You can see it in his game, he dares to dribble, to perform technical gestures that can only be done when you are confident.

"He is in great shape, in full physical possession of his means."

Since the start of 2021, Moffi has been involved in fourteen of the 27 goals scored by Lorient in Ligue 1 - 51.9 percent of their goals.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel