Nigerians have warned in-form striker Terem Moffi against joining struggling Premier League side West Ham United, a move they believe may derail his high-flying career.

Moffi has been on the radar of some Premier League strugglers – Southampton, Bournemouth and West Ham but the Hammers are in advanced talks with Lorient for the services of the Nigerian who has scored 12 goals in 19 league appearances for high-flying Lorient this season. 

According to reports in France and England, the 23-year-old may be on his way to the Premier League side who have already made a bid of £20million (plus £5m in add-on).

However, despite the appeal of playing in the English topflight, Nigerians are concerned that a move to a struggling and relegation-threatened club will in the long run affect his value in the future. 

“Moffi is too talented to be playing at a struggling Premier League club. Their low confidence will affect his performance and that may affect his performance. He needs to learn from players like Emmanuel Dennis and Taiwo Awoniyi who are playing for struggling clubs and how that has affected them.,” Gabriel Adejare told Boldsportsng.com.

“The appeal of playing in England is always high but he must understand that a striker in the form he is at the moment should be attracting mid-table and top six teams not clubs struggling for survival. West Ham are not a bad side, but the move is a bad one for Moffi,” Okechukwu Eze said.

“I feel he should stay back in France till the summer to continue his development, a move at this point would reduce his worth. If his form persists, he would be sold for nothing less than £50m in the summer.”

Aside from the three Premier League clubs on the lookout for Moffi, Ligue 1 side OGC Nice are also looking at hijacking the striker but may be unwilling to pay Lorien’t valuation of the player.