West Ham United are reportedly interested in Lorient striker Terem Moffi, but signing the 23-year-old could be a repeat of the expensive deal which saw Gianluca Scamacca join David Moyes' squad last summer.

According to talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook, the Hammers have now joined the race for the Nigerian forward, with the Ligue 1 club set to demand around £25m should he depart the Stade du Moustoir this month.

Southampton are also said to be keen on the frontman, who has hit 10 goals in 16 appearances in the current French top flight campaign, averaging an impressive 7.02 rating from WhoScored for his performances.

It seems clear that Moyes needs another striker in his squad at the London Stadium, as Scamacca and Michail Antonio have managed just five Premier League goals between them so far this season. However, signing Moffi could prove to be an unwanted repeat of the former's £35.5m switch to West Ham from Sassuolo last year.

Big things were expected of the Italian striker after he managed 16 Serie A goals last season, but he has flattered to deceive for the Irons far, with WhoScored awarding him a less than impressive 6.52 rating for his performances in the Premier League.

According to FBref, the 24-year-old is the ninth-most similar player to Moffi when compared with other strikers across Europe's top leagues, which doesn't bode well for the Hammers' interest in the Lorient marksman.

Although Moffi is outscoring Scamacca in 2022/23, the two share very similar statistics with regard to shots (30 vs 29), expected assists per game (0.5 vs 0.6) and progressive passes received (52 vs 50) in the current campaign.

The fact that they have recorded such similar statistics, with Scamacca even shooting more often than Moffi, suggests that it is simply harder to score in the Premier League, and the Nigerian may follow in the footsteps of his Italian counterpart at the London Stadium should he join West Ham this month.

Given that Moffi has been criticised for his "woeful form" in the past, albeit that it wouldn't be a fair claim about his goal return this season, Hammers fans could quickly turn on the 23-year-old should he fail to replicate his Lorient goalscoring exploits in England.

If Moyes wants to improve West Ham's standing in the Premier League, he needs to recruit consistent and proven forwards, rather than relatively untested strikers such as Moffi, who has never played at a higher level than Ligue 1 and looks like a prime candidate to continue the Irons' striker curse should he come to London in this month's transfer window.