Moffi Reveals He Nearly Quit Football After Dark Spell

There’s a version of Terem Moffi’s story that could have ended in silence. No farewell announcement, no trophy parade, just a 27 year old quietly walking away from a career that once looked like it had no ceiling. That’s how close it got.

The Super Eagles striker opened up on what he described as the hardest period of his professional life, confirming he genuinely weighed up walking away from football altogether. “There was a time I thought about retirement,” Moffi said. “It was the hardest period of my career.”

The admission carries real weight for a player who had scored 54 goals and registered 12 assists in 148 Ligue 1 appearances across spells with Lorient and OGC Nice before his world unravelled last November. On 30 November 2025, following a 3-1 defeat to his former side Lorient, Moffi and teammate Jeremie Boga were attacked by Nice supporters as they stepped off the team bus. Nice placed him on sick leave for a week. He never played for the club again.

From Nice Nightmare to Porto’s Title Push

The circumstances of Moffi’s exit from Nice were as ugly as the football had been for the club in the preceding weeks. A run of six consecutive league defeats had turned the fanbase hostile, and Moffi was caught in the crossfire. Rather than return to a toxic environment, he found a lifeline when FC Porto came calling on 30 January 2026.

Porto needed cover after Samu Omorodion suffered a serious injury in February, and Moffi slotted into their attacking rotation. He made 15 appearances and scored twice, modest numbers by his own standards but enough to collect a Portuguese Primeira Liga title medal as Porto lifted the championship. It was a bittersweet end to what had been an emotionally draining season.

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The Mental Battle Behind the Physical One

What Moffi described was not just a physical recovery but a psychological one. The uncertainty of not knowing whether his body would return to its best level created doubts he had never previously encountered in his professional career. That kind of doubt, the type that makes a footballer question his own identity, is rarely spoken about openly.

“I feel much better now,” he said, “and I still want to keep playing at the highest level possible.” The resolve in those words tells you something. This isn’t a player already at peace with decline. He still has something to prove.

The road back to full fitness was a long one. Moffi is still navigating it. But for a player who started his career at Buckswood Football Academy in Hastings at age 17 after leaving Nigeria, who then ground his way through Lithuanian football with Kauno Zalgiris and Riteriai before earning a move to Belgian side Kortrijk and then Ligue 1 with Lorient, adversity is not a new companion. He has always had to fight for everything.

What This Means for the Super Eagles

Moffi’s fitness and form carry direct consequences for Eric Chelle’s Super Eagles setup. He returned to the national team fold after his injury battle and remains in Nigeria’s plans as the squad prepares for upcoming competitions. With 4 goals in 19 senior appearances, he’s not the most prolific Eagle in the camp, but his profile as a physical, mobile striker gives Chelle options that pure technicians don’t.

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The more pressing question is where Moffi plays his club football next season. He has one year remaining on his OGC Nice contract, but reports out of France have made it clear Nice does not expect to keep him beyond the summer. FC Porto chose not to trigger the 8 million euro buy option. A third club destination beckons, and the choice Moffi makes could define whether the comeback story reaches a satisfying conclusion or fades quietly into another difficult chapter.

A Career Still Worth Fighting For

Those who have followed Moffi since his Lorient breakthrough know what peak Moffi looks like. In the 2023-24 season at Nice, he finished the campaign as the club’s top scorer with 11 goals. He signed for Nice permanently in January 2023, having initially arrived on loan, in a deal that included a 15 percent sell-on clause for Lorient and an obligation to buy set at 30 million euros. That price tag alone tells you how highly he was rated.

Getting back to that level is the mission. His honesty about how close he came to not trying is exactly the kind of vulnerability that makes a comeback story resonate. Moffi didn’t walk away. He chose the harder path. Now he needs a club willing to bet on him doing it again, and based on what he’s shown across five years in French football, that bet isn’t as risky as his recent injury record might suggest.

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