Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi has now opened up on considering retiring during his endless series of loan transfers away from Liverpool early on in his career.
The Reds signed Awoniyi after showing promise in his native Nigeria for the Imperial Soccer Academy. But despite remaining under contract with Liverpool from 2015 to 2021, he never featured for the Merseyside natives at any age level after failing to obtain a UK work permit.
Liverpool swooped to sign Awoniyi after emerging as a true rising star of the African football scene. He had represented Nigeria as a 14-year-old in a youth tournament held in London in 2011. A call-up for the Super Eagles’ Under-17s also arrived in 2013 for the U17 World Cup.
Liverpool never saw the potential Taiwo Awoniyi had
It was a dream come true for Awoniyi to join Liverpool but work permit problems prevented him from ever featuring. Changes to the work permit system with the removal of the special talent scheme meant the 26-year-old’s only option was to get into the senior Nigeria set-up.
That call-up would not materialise, though, and Awoniyi did not make his debut with Nigeria until October 2021. By then, Liverpool had already sold the striker to Union Berlin for £6.5m. Awoniyi agreed to a permanent move to the Bundesliga club following a term there on loan.
Not all of Awoniyi’s loan transfers were as fruitful as his stint in Berlin, though. Liverpool had also sent him to FSV Frankfurt in 2015/16, NEC Nijmegen in 2016/17, Royal Excel Mouscron in 2017/18, KAA Gent in 2018, Mouscron again in 2019 and also to FSV Mainz 05 in 2019/20.
Awoniyi endured relegation from Bundesliga 2 during his time at FSV Frankfurt, where he hit just one goal through 14 games. He also endured relegation from the Eredivisie at Nijmegen, where he scored three times in 22 games. Goals then came much easier whilst at Mouscron.
His first spell at the Belgian Jupiler Pro League side returned 10 goals in 31 games across all competitions. Yet goals dried up at Gent with three in 22 games and at Mainz with one in 12 games. Awoniyi had overcome his plight at Gent to score 11 goals in 16 games at Mouscron.
Taiwo Awoniyi opens up on his ‘tough’ times out on loan
It was those early loan moves and back-to-back relegations that put a great seed of doubt in Awoniyi’s mind. He has now revealed having serious thoughts about his career in the sport whilst the forward’s dream of being a Liverpool player turned into a nightmare for Awoniyi.
“The only option I had was to keep on going on loan with the hope that if I do well on loan and I play for the national team, I’ll be able to get the work permit and come back,” Awoniyi has told The Guardian.
“I kept on going on loan and the national team call-ups still didn’t come. So, I didn’t have any other option than to keep on striving.”
Awoniyi added: “It was really a hard and tough situation. I didn’t really play a lot of games [at FSV Frankfurt and] the team was relegated. I then went to Holland [at Nijmegen] and that was another strange experience. We also got relegated.
“I said to myself, about the third year, if I go down again or I don’t make anything happen, I have to think about my football career. It was at Mouscron that I really discovered myself, that I saw myself as the player I wanted to be.”
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