A Wild Card For Awoniyi In The Summer

A Wild Card For Awoniyi In The Summer

By Gbenga Gboyega

Taiwo Michael Awoniyi, 25 years old, currently plies his trade for English Premier League club Nottingham Forest, after making a €20.5 million move from Germany's Union Berlin last summer.

Nottingham Forest gained promotion to the top tier of English football alongside Bournemouth and Fulham, leading to an overhauling of the squad with 21 new signings to gain an edge against the top teams.

One of those signings was Taiwo Awoniyi, who had an impressive outing with Union Berlin in the 2021-22 season, scoring 25 goals and assisting 9 in 65 games across all competitions.

Awoniyi had a stellar spell in the German Bundesliga having first played for Royal Excel Mouscron over two loan spells, bagging 21 goals and 10 assists altogether.

The English Premier League remains a tall order to climb for the Ilorin-born striker, after making the move from home soil with Imperial Academy, to Liverpool back in 2015 at 18 years and 19 days old.

Awoniyi has five goals in all competitions for Forest this season, with four coming in the league and one in the EFL. However, not kicking a ball for the Reds over six seasons, coupled with numerous loan spells across Belgium, Poland, and Germany, before returning to England last year has been a torrid affair.

This struggle seems evident in the national team as well, as Awoniyi has featured only five times for the Super Eagles since making his debut in July 2021, scoring just once, and was last selected during the 2022 AFCON loss to Tunisia.

With four years remaining on his Forest contract, having signed for five years, his £50,000 per week wage may not be enough to boost his career, as he would need to find a way up or out of contention if things don't change for the better.

Nottingham Forest currently sits 18th on the EPL standings, with the risk of an immediate return to the championship, which may further compound any hopes of Awoniyi saving his facial and market value.