Super Eagles: 2 reasons behind Terem Moffi’s early struggles at Hamburg

Super Eagles forward Terem Moffi has endured a slow start to life at German side Hamburg in the 2026/27 season, Afrik-Foot reports.

Moffi completed a move to the Bundesliga side during the summer transfer window from French club Nice, but he is still trying to settle into his new team.

The Nigerian striker spent the second half of last season on loan at Portuguese side Porto, where he won the Portuguese league title with the club.

However, in his first three games for Hamburg this season, Moffi is yet to find the back of the net or provide a goal contribution.

While he will be hoping for much better outings in the coming weeks, there are several factors that could have contributed to his slow start in Germany.

Moffi’s fitness concerns

One major reason behind Moffi’s slow start is his fitness. The Super Eagles forward is not yet at 100% and is still working his way back to full sharpness.

Moffi missed Hamburg’s preseason preparations, which means he did not have the opportunity to build his fitness alongside his new teammates before the competitive season began.

Preseason would have given the Nigerian striker valuable minutes to get up to speed physically, understand his new manager’s demands and develop a better understanding with the players around him.

Instead, Moffi had to begin adapting to a new league and a new team without having the benefit of a full preseason.

He is also competing with other players for a place in the team, making it important for him to reach his best level as quickly as possible. Being fully fit would give him a better chance of making a stronger impact and securing a regular role in the starting lineup.

Hamburg head coach Merlin Polzin also admitted that Moffi is still working towards full fitness.

“He is not yet at 100 percent. He covers many things that are very important for our game”, Polzin explained during an interview via OneFootball.

Super Eagles forward is still building an understanding with his teammates

Another factor behind Moffi’s slow start could be his lack of understanding with his new teammates.

Having missed preseason, the Super Eagles forward lost an important opportunity to develop a relationship with the players around him before the start of the campaign.

Moffi needs to know when his teammates are likely to play the ball into space, where crosses will come from and the positions he should take up in the final third.

He also needs time to become familiar with Hamburg’s attacking patterns and understand how his teammates prefer to create chances and missing preseason has therefore made the adjustment process more difficult, especially as he is also adapting to a new club and a new league.

With more training sessions and matches, Moffi should gradually become more familiar with his teammates and the way Hamburg want to play.

The Super Eagles forward will hope to settle in quickly and rediscover his goalscoring form before his drought stretches further into the season. Hamburg have already lost all three of their games this season and will be hoping to end that run in their fourth league game.

Moffi will have another chance to end his goalscoring drought when Hamburg welcome FC Köln to the Volksparkstadion on Saturday, with the hosts aiming to record their first points of the season and move away from the bottom of the standings.