Three seasons in Hamburg, 2.5 million for Nice
295,000 euros a month for a player who had stopped playing. That was the situation Nice were paying for, and it ended on Monday. Terem Moffi is no longer an OGC Nice player. The Nigerian striker passed his medical and signed a three-year deal with Hamburg, with the German club confirming the move hours later.
The fee is modest. Nice will bank 2.5 million euros, including 500,000 in bonuses. For a player they took from Lorient for a far bigger sum two and a half years ago, this looks less like a sale than a clean-up job.
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Seventeen goals, then the injuries took over
It did not start badly. Moffi scored 17 times in his first season and a half on the Cote d’Azur. He fit the plan: a powerful finisher who could lead the line on his own.
Then his body gave way. Injuries chopped up the following seasons and pushed him out of the starting XI. His relationship with successive coaches strained. So did the one with the club’s hierarchy.
The breaking point came from the stands. According to Foot Mercato, his row with part of the Nice ultras worsened after a particularly tense return from Lorient. From there, the exit was only a matter of timing.
Wahi is already in the building
The Nice board did not wait for the paperwork. Elye Wahi came back to the club this weekend on loan with an option to buy, so the centre-forward slot is covered and the wage bill has moved in the right direction.
Hamburg get the No 9 they wanted. HSV are backing a 27-year-old Nigeria international, still in his prime years, for their Bundesliga campaign. Moffi gets minutes again after 18 rough months.
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