Nottingham Forest striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, says he is excitedly looking forward to featuring for Steve Cooper’s men against his former club, Liverpool, in the Premier League.
Liverpool signed Awoniyi in 2015 from Seyi Olofinjana’s youth side, Imperial Soccer Academy but never registered him to play in any competition. The striker was sent out on loan deals to five clubs, namely; FSV Frankfurt (Germany), NEC Nijmegen (the Netherlands), Royal Excel Mouscron (Belgium), KAA Gent, FSV Mainz 05 (Belgium) and Union Berlin (Germany).
Bundesliga side, Union Berlin, eventually signed him on a permanent basis in July 2021.
Awoniyi joined Nottingham Forest from Union Berlin this summer transfer window for a fee of £17 million on a five-year deal.
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The Tricky Trees will lock horns with Liverpool in the Premier League on October 22 2022 at City Ground, and Awoniyi is already feeling motivated to play against his former club.
In an interview with Super Sport YouTube Channel, Awoniyi said he would be most excited to play against Liverpool in the Premier League.
“For me to be honest, I’ll say Liverpool because I’ve been there before. I know some of the players there. I’d be very excited to play against them,” the Super Eagles striker told Super Sport when asked which team he would be most excited to play against this season.
Awoniyi also picked Wilfred Ndidi as his favourite Nigeria teammate and said he would have loved to play alongside Jay Jay Okocha in the Premier League.
“For me, I will pick Wilfred Ndidi, he was my teammate in the youth [team]. Looking at what he’s doing in the midfield for Leicester City for a while.
“I would pick Jay Jay Okocha, assuming he’s still able to play because he’s one of the best players in the world for me.
“I just watched his clips on YouTube. I was in Germany and they showed me the goal he scored against Oliver Kahn.
On how he feels as Nottingham Forest record signing, Awoniyi said: “To be honest, I have the same scenario when I went to Union Berlin and the same question was asked.
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“For me football – this is what I love doing. This is what I’ve been doing since I was a youth. And when it comes to pressure, I think for me, I just enjoy playing my football, and I just go into the field, fight for the club, fight for the jersey.”
Awoniyi has scored one goal in three Premier League games this season.
He has scored one goal in four games for the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Nottingham Forest are currently 10th in the Premier League with four points from three matches.
By Toju Sote
1 Comment
Eager to play nonesense