The star that Mo Salah forced to leave Anfield before making a £17 million return may haunt Liverpool.
Later in the season, Taiwo Awoniyi of Nottingham Forest could haunt Liverpool. The 26-year-old played for Anfield for six years, but he has acknowledged that the arrival of blockbuster star Mohamed Salah had starved him of opportunities. As a result, he had to make the difficult decision to leave the team.
In 2015, at the age of 18, Awoniyi transferred from Imperial Academy in Nigeria to Liverpool. But in 2021, before he had even made a first team appearance, he left the Reds to sign with Union Berlin after a string of loan spells.
The gifted forward scored 25 goals in 65 games for the German team prior to agreeing to a £17 million transfer to Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2017. After scoring six goals in his final four games of the previous season, he has made an impression in the Premier League. He has scored in his team’s first three games this season.
Awoniyi made his injury comeback last weekend when Forest lost 3-0 to Liverpool at Anfield. He came on as a second-half substitute. As the Reds visit the City Ground in March, the Nigerian international will have one more chance to haunt his previous employers.
However, Awoniyi acknowledges that leaving Merseyside was inevitable. The star told the Liverpool FC website, “As a player, that was the kind of environment I had always wanted.” But sometimes in life you have to make difficult choices, and I knew that I had to go play every week.
“You look at the time; Salah, Sadio Mane, Firmino, and others were there.” I was aware that my chances of playing were extremely slim. I was aware that I had to reach a point where I was playing each week. Although I had to make the decision to leave, it was not an easy one.
I always say that Liverpool is a family club. You grow as a person in addition to a football player, and Liverpool deserves a great deal of credit for how well they took care of me during my entire absence. I’ll always be appreciative of that. It was a really positive and significant time in my life, and it played a major role in my ability to grow as a player and a person.
Awoniyi continued, “You can’t have anxieties in the Premier League, you have to be there every week – 100% – because there are so many strong teams, strong players.” This was in reference to his experiences in England. The bar is really high. All teams are formidable foes who can easily defeat you. It differs from the other leagues because of that. The weekly challenge is enormous.
