Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi believes leaving Premier League giants Liverpool was a decision he ‘had to make’ during the summer of 2021.
Even without the work permit issues which forced Liverpool to send the Nigeria international out on a series of short-term loans, Taiwo Awoniyi would still have struggled to force his way into a frontline with more stars than the cast of a Tarantino movie.
Speaking to the Liverpool website, ahead of Nottingham Forest’s trip to Anfield this Sunday, Awoniyi is keen to point out that Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino were all ahead of him in Jurgen Klopp’s pecking order at the time, not to mention perennial supersub – and now City Ground team-mate – Divock Origi.
Taiwo Awoniyi has thrived since Liverpool exit
“For me as a player, that was the kind of environment I had always wanted. But in life sometimes you have to make tough decisions,” Awoniyi recalls, speaking to the Liverpool website. “And I knew, for me, that I needed to go and play every week.
“You look at the time; there was Salah, Mane, Firmino and others. I knew the chances were very, very slim. I knew I needed to get to a place where I was playing every week.
“It was hard (to leave Liverpool). But it was a decision I had to make.”
A decision justified, too, considering how Awoniyi took to life in Germany with high-flying, coupon-busting Union Berlin. The powerful, athletic Awoniyi returned to England with Nottingham Forest to the tune of £17.5 million after scribing his name into the Union history books, becoming the club’s all-time record Bundesliga goalscorer.
Both he and Origi will be denied the chance to show Liverpool what they are missing this weekend, however, expected to be unavailable for selection at Anfield.
10 league goals for Nottingham Forest in 2022/23
Awoniyi’s absence will come as a relief to Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, the Liverpool boss always an admirer of a man who marked his belated first Premier League season by hitting double figures in Garibaldi red.
“I have learned so much in my time in England already, and improved so much,” Awoniyi adds.
“The Premier League is different from everywhere else. It is a league where you have to always be ready, physically, technically and mentally.
“You can’t have anxieties in the Premier League, you have to be there every week, 100 per cent, because there are so many strong teams, strong players. The level is so high. Every team is a big club, a team that can easily beat you. That is what sets it apart from the other leagues. The challenge every single week is huge.”
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