West Ham United are one of a number of Premier League teams interested in signing former Liverpool striker Taiwo Awoniyi.
That’s according to Bild journalist Christian Falk. Falk posted on Twitter to claim that West Ham are one of three English clubs vying to sign the Nigerian.
It’s claimed that Newcastle United and Southampton are also rivalling the Hammers in their pursuit of Awoniyi.
Interestingly for Liverpool, Falk reports that Awoniyi has a release clause set at £16.7m.
After negotiating a 10% sell-on fee for the player they sold last summer, Liverpool will earn a portion of that should any side follow through with their interest.
Liverpool set for sell-on windfall
It isn’t the first time Awoniyi has been claimed to be pursuing a move away from the German capital this summer.
Back in March, Goal relayed the news of the clause that Liverpool cleverly inserted into his contract. In doing so, they also claimed that the Bundesliga striker would cost any potential buyers around £25m this summer.
If news of Awoniyi’s release clause is true, then a sale will obviously earn The Reds slightly less than previously hoped.
Either way, it would give Liverpool’s transfer kitty a nice little boost during the summer window.
The Reds already secured £6.5m for Awoniyi last year. Should he leave Union this time around, it would push Liverpool earning on the player over £8m.
The Nigeria international completed several loan moves away from Liverpool over the years, too. It could be that including any fees made from those spells away, Liverpool could have earnt even more.
For a player who didn’t play for Jurgen Klopp during six years on the books at Anfield, it’s an excellent return.
The only frustration from a Liverpool point of view is that Awoniyi isn’t realising his potential on Merseyside. He clearly has a good profile for English football, and having scored 18 goals this season, he would surely have been a handy option for Klopp.
If he does come to the Premier League next season, hopefully Liverpool aren’t forced to regret their decision to let him go.
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