Taiwo Awoniyi’s long journey to the Premier League finally at an end

“It’s always been my dream to play in the Premier League,” Taiwo Awoniyi announced after joining Nottingham Forest as their record signing. It took the Nigerian a mere seven years from signing for Liverpool to finally make his mark but his ambitions to make it in England started even further back.

In between his arrival in England to the present day, he has ticked off seven loans and two permanent moves. The Nigerian striker became Nottingham Forest’s first signing of the summer when the club spent £17.5m on Awoniyi, as a sign of their intentions, to mark their return to the top flight.

Liverpool snapped up the then teenage Awoniyi for £400,000 after he impressed in the Under-20 World Cup in 2015 but he was unable to obtain a work permit, forcing him to enjoy a nomadic life, taking in loans spells in Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, before joining Union Berlin permanently. There were infrequent stops with Liverpool, taking part in pre-seasons but it never led to a competitive outing. Awoniyi always speaks glowingly of his times on the books at Anfield despite never pulling on the Red shirt in anger, a sign of his positive attitude.

He used last summer with Jürgen Klopp and the Liverpool first team to analyse Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and, in particular, Roberto Firmino to educate himself. It was instilled in him during Liverpool’s pre-season camp in Austria last summer that to reach the top a player needs to be dedicated and work hard every day.

Not all of Awoniyi’s loans were fruitful, he had to learn the hard way, cutting short a spell with Gent after failing to score in 16 league games. He was generally limited to time off the bench in a side that did not suit in style but it was acknowledged as another learning