OGC Nice coach Franck Haise has revealed that Terem Moffi's fitness levels has improved significantly in the last few days and could make the squad for their Ligue 1 game against Monaco on Saturday, Soccernet.ng reports.
Moffi has been sidelined since last July during Nice pre-season. The Super Eagles striker suffered a hamstring injury in training, and he has been recovering since then.
Moffi returned to light training in mid-February, before joining the main team earlier this month. But as usual with players who suffer long-term injuries, Nice have been careful and patient with him to help him reach match fitness and prevent a relapse.
Before the international break, Soccernet.ng reported that Moffi would play with the under-21 team in their friendly game against Brighton on Wednesday. However, the Super Eagles star did not join them at the request of coach Haise.
Ahead of Nice's Ligue 1 cracker against Monaco tomorrow, Haise shared an update on Moffi, and the Super Eagles star might be named in their travelling squad.
“Terem (Moffi) and Morgan are in the run-in, yes. They were supposed to play on Wednesday, but the team was very young and it was our big session of the week, so we thought it was better to do a big 1.5-hour session,” Haise said, per Francbleu.
“Terem has improved over the last ten days. In terms of sequences and dynamism. We can start different players depending on the matches. You'll see tomorrow!”
Monaco and Nice currently sit third and fourth in Ligue 1, barely separated by goal difference. So whoever takes the three points could climb as high as second, depending on the result of Marseille's game against Reims
How long will it take Terem Moffi to return to his best?
Different players have different recovery periods after suffering long-term injuries. Some players like Sadiq Umar might require a long time, while others like Rafiu Durosinmi need little time to reach their best.
But luckily for Terem Moffi, Nice are doing well at the moment and do not need him to hit the ground running. In fact, it is highly unlikely that he will start against Monaco if he is named in the matchday squad. The best he will get is an appearance off the bench.
With just eight games left this season, he might not even start a Ligue 1 game this season. The summer break just comes at the right time for him, as he will use pre-season to recover and reclaim his starting shirt at Nice.
