Lorient have given a clear indication that Terem Moffi is on his way as West Ham continue to push for the striker while David Moyes plays it cool.
As carried by Hammers News this week, it has been claimed West Ham’s signing of Danny Ings does not impact the club’s desire to bring in rapid Lorient forward Moffi in this window.
The Hammers want the in-form Nigerian ace as well as Ings with Michail Antonio likely to be sold should Moyes get both over the line.
The Moffi move has been something of a saga thus far but nothing West Ham fans are not well used to by now.
Earlier this week journalist Alan Nixon claimed West Ham’s reported £20m plus move for Moffi was now ‘all down to wages’.
Prior to that a French journalist had claimed Moffi had chosen to sign for Nice over West Ham.
There was a further development regarding the 23-year-old hitman – who is second in the list of Ligue 1 top scorers this season with 12 goals, just one behind superstar Kylian Mbappe – when it was revealed Nice had upped their bid to £17.5m.
Now Lorient have given a clear indication that Moffi is on his way as West Ham continue to push for the striker while Moyes plays it cool.
Lorient take on Bastia in the Coupe de France on Saturday evening. But Moffi has significantly been left out of the squad and was also absent from training on the eve of the match.
L’Equipe reports that it has been suggested Moffi is ill but has cast doubt on those claims amid the speculation linking the Nigerian with West Ham and Nice.
Another sign Lorient are clearly preparing for Moffi to leave comes from reports in France claiming Lorient are pushing to sign not one but THREE new attackers.
According to Foot Mercato and Get French Football News, Lorient ‘are fully expected to part ways with Moffi’ having also sold winger Dango Ouattara to Bournemouth.
And the Ligue 1 club are targeting Southampton’s Moussa Djenepo, Lyon’s attacking midfielder Romain Faivre and Lokomotiv Moscow’s French U21 international striker Wilson Isidor.
While it seems Moffi is definitely on his way out, Moyes moved to play down talk of another striker signing in his latest West Ham press conference.
But the situation at West Ham, with the club in the relegation zone, and previous comments from Moyes render the Scot’s attempts to play down anymore transfers as somewhat irrelevant.
Because not only may Moyes be out of a job before the window closes, but West Ham’s owners have clearly pushed the manager to make signings after he declared on several occasions he would not be active during the January window.
Moyes is also renowned for playing his cards close to his chest regarding transfers and using kidology with the press when he is trying to make signings.
Nice do appear to have the edge, but whether they can match West Ham’s reported £25m bid is another matter altogether.