Taiwo Awoniyi: Are You Lost in the Forest?

His 15 goals last season—the sixth in the German top division—not only propelled Union Berlin to a respectable fifth place in the Bundesliga, but they also earned The Iron Ones a spot in the Europa League, just missing out on the Champions League. But Taiwo Awoniyi decided to chase his lifelong ambition of playing in the Premier League rather than building on that impressive performance with the German side. He thus moved to Nottingham Forest for a club-record £17 million trade. The Nigerian has not only played rarely for The Tricky Trees since signing, but he has also worked hard to keep the team afloat in the English top division. Awoniyi might be joining Nigerian legions competing in the Championship next season, according to Kunle Adewale, who notes that two out of every three promoted teams from the Sky Bet Championship struggled to maintain their Premier League status at the end of the season if they were not relegated. Forest is mired in uncertainty.

Big European teams competed to recruit him after his performances with the Nigerian Golden Eaglets at the 2013 U-17 World Cup made him one of the game’s most promising young players. Taiwo Adeniyi joined Liverpool in 2015 with the hope of having an influence on the Merseyside powerhouse, but he was never given the opportunity to lace up his boots for the Anfield team even once in a competitive game.

He was ultimately sold to German Bundesliga team Union Berlin after seven loan stints at different European teams, and it was there that he finally found a home.

With his success at Union Berlin, where he scored 15 goals last season, including the sixth goal in the German top division, he assisted The Iron Ones in earning a Europa League spot.

Awoyini did win over Berlin supporters’ hearts and became known as their Cult Hero. Instead of seeing it as a complement, the Nigerian striker decided to fulfill a lifelong dream by joining the Premier League.

At Nottingham Forest, he has just recently been used infrequently. In contrast to Berlin, where he was a regular starter except for injury, he entered both of Forest’s most recent games against Manchester City and Bournemouth with fewer than two games remaining.

While Awoniyi’s Nottingham Forest is presently ranked 19th in the Premier League, Union Berlin, the team where he was idolized and loved by the supporters, is currently in first position.

By barely defeating Cologne, Union Berlin ascended to the top of the German Bundesliga for the first time in club history.

After Borussia Monchengladbach held Freiberg to a scoreless draw, unbeaten Union clinched first place.

But after six games, Urs Fischer’s club was in first position, ahead of groups like champion Bayern Munich in third and Borussia Dortmund in fifth. After missing out on Champions League qualifying by one point the previous season, Union is also participating in the Europa League.

Union Berlin supporters lauded the 24-year-old as the finest player in the world after he scored his 10th Bundesliga goal last season.

After the game, one supporter told Soccernet.ng, “He is the greatest in the world.”

Another group of supporters sang a unique song in the player’s honor.

Since being signed by Liverpool, his dream has been to play in the Premier League, but securing a spot in the star-studded Reds’ side and obtaining a work permit have been challenges. As a result, he spent seven loan spells with different European clubs before being finally sold to German Bundesliga team Union Berlin. However, the Super Eagles striker’s ambition of playing for his country was eventually realized when recently promoted team Nottingham Forrest agreed to pay a club record signing fee of £17.5 million to capture the Nigerian international.

In order to have football boots to play in as a young child, Awoniyi had to be inventive, which led to extremely modest beginnings in Nigeria.

After he made an impression at the Imperial Soccer Academy, Liverpool rushed in to get him in 2015 for a bargain £400,000.

Awoniyi was loaned out to FSV Frankfurt, NEC Nijmegen, Royal Excel Mouscron, Gent, and Klopp’s old club Mainz as he awaited a work visa.

The attacker did, however, start to find his footing and even garnered parallels to Erling Haaland when playing for Union Berlin.

He is what is referred to be a utility player, thus he is ideal for the position that has been assigned to him, in my opinion. According to German football analyst Constanin Eckner, “He works fairly well for the Union Berlin system, which is also quite direct, a lot of vertical passes, and he makes a number of runs behind the backline.

“With the sprints he makes behind the line, he kind of reminds me of Erling Haaland.

Although he is obviously not on the same level as Erling Haaland, his technique is fairly comparable, and he is at least a passable finisher inside the box. He is also a competent, if not spectacular, poacher.

However, before he could join Liverpool for their preseason training in Austria, Awoniyi had to convert his loan to Berlin into a permanent £6.5 million deal last summer.

Additionally, it provided him the opportunity to work with Klopp for the first time and experience one of the German’s renowned bear-hug greets.

“What took you so long?,” he said. I’ll be honest; I’ve always considered working with him. My team-mates at FSV Frankfurt would often mention that they wanted to play for him, even if he hadn’t committed to Liverpool yet, Awoniyi said to GOAL in December.

“I was pondering this and was really interested in learning more about him. Once he committed to Liverpool, I was like, “Wow! Maybe I’ll have the chance to meet him someday. And when I first saw him, I understood that everything people had said about him—his grin, his enthusiasm, everything he brings to the table—was accurate.

Awoniyi then kicked out his second spell in Berlin in impressive fashion, netting in three straight games on route to 15 Bundesliga goals that helped the team qualify for the Europa League.

Awoniyi has no regrets about how his career has turned out, even if he may have been starting for Klopp this season if things had been different.

“Life is an adventure. Everyone takes a separate path and follows a different set of steps. We have distinct fates, he said to Tribal Football.

“I signed for Liverpool at a time in my early football career when I didn’t know how work permit problems worked, but in the end, we’re still debating it now.

It demonstrates that choosing Liverpool was a good option on my part. I often cite Liverpool as one of the finest things that ever occurred to me as a football player. With them, I have absolutely no regrets since they offered me the opportunity to realize my ambition.

Because everything in life still has time, I don’t see not being able to play a game (for Liverpool) in the Premier League as a regret. “After a protracted procedure, Taiwo Awoniyi can now concentrate on his career in England. He wants to play in the Premier League, an Imperial Academy executive told BBC Sport Africa.

“We’re thrilled that Taiwo has picked Nottingham Forest,” Forest head coach Steve Cooper stated. “There has been a lot of interest in Taiwo from other Premier League teams and other clubs around Europe.”

Over the last several months, our coaching and recruiting staff have kept a close eye on his development.

We have a lot of faith in him as a player and are excited to see him realize his potential with Nottingham Forest and get to the level of a quality Premier League striker.

He told the club’s website, “I’m extremely delighted to be here at Nottingham Forest.

I’ve always wanted to play in the Premier League, and after talking to Steve Cooper about our goals and considering Forest’s illustrious past, I’ve decided that this is the team I want to join.

Awoniyi will undoubtedly spend next season in the Sky Bet Championship after scoring only once in 245 Premier League minutes, with Nottingham Forest now sitting 19th in the standings.