Chukunyere: Liverpool may regret letting Awoniyi go

Taiwo Awoniyi of Union Berlin

Monday Jun 27, 2022. 11:00

Former Nigeria international striker Ndubisi Chukunyere says that Liverpool may regret letting Super Eagles attacker Taiwo Awoniyi go following his transfer to new Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest.

The 24-year-old signed for Forest, who have returned to the top flight of English football for the first time since 1999, for a club-record fee from German side Union Berlin.

Awoniyi spent six years on the books of Liverpool from 2015 to 2021, making zero appearances for the first team but having several loan spells at the likes of FSV Frankfurt, Gent and Mainz.

He finally made a permanent switch away from Anfield in 2021, signing for Union Berlin after impressing on loan in the 20-21 season. Last term he scored 20 goals in 43 appearances across all competitions for the Bundesliga club.

“I never saw this coming but without any doubt, Awoniyi has proven to be Premier League material with his performances in Germany,” Chukunyere told Goal.

He added, “By all standards, the return to England is a great move and I am upbeat that he will excel because he is well built for the English Premier League.

“Of course, it is too early to judge how many goals he would score or not, however, I see the young man moving from Nottingham Forest to do good things in his professional career.

“On the international scene, that might also help him get more Super Eagles call-ups and I see a situation whereby coach [Jose] Peseiro would have a selection headache judging by the quality of strikers in his team.”

Chukunyere continued, “Many may argue that Liverpool at that time had [Mohamed] Salah, [Sadio] Mane, and [Roberto] Firmino, but the reality remains that Awoniyi was not given that chance to prove his worth.

“Well, all these things happen in football but trust me, if our man shines with Forest, Liverpool will bite their fingers for letting a quality player go. Until then, we can only hope that Awoniyi makes everyone proud and justify the price tag.”