Taiwo Micheal Awoniyi (born 12 August 1997) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and the Nigeria national team.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Taiwo Micheal Awoniyi[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | (1997-08-12) 12 August 1997 (age 25)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Ilorin, Nigeria | ||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Forward | ||||||||||||||||||
Club information | |||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Nottingham Forest | ||||||||||||||||||
Number | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||
2010–2015 | Imperial Soccer Academy | ||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||
2015–2021 | Liverpool | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
2015–2016 | → FSV Frankfurt (loan) | 13 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||
2016–2017 | → NEC (loan) | 18 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||
2017–2018 | → Mouscron (loan) | 27 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||
2018–2019 | → Gent (loan) | 16 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
2019 | → Mouscron (loan) | 9 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||
2019–2020 | → Mainz 05 (loan) | 12 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||
2020–2021 | → Union Berlin (loan) | 21 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||
2021–2022 | Union Berlin | 31 | (15) | ||||||||||||||||
2022– | Nottingham Forest | 13 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||
National team‡ | |||||||||||||||||||
2013 | Nigeria U17 | 8 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||
2015 | Nigeria U20 | 9 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||
2015 | Nigeria U23 | 3 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||
2021– | Nigeria | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||
Honours
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:27, 5 November 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:44, 27 September 2022 (UTC) |
In 2010, Awoniyi was voted the Most Valuable Player at a Coca-Cola football competition in London. His performance at the competition was spotted by Seyi Olofinjana who invited him to join the Imperial Soccer Academy.[4]
On 31 August 2015, Awoniyi signed for English club Liverpool for a fee of around £400,000 but was immediately loaned out to German team FSV Frankfurt.[5][6]
Awoniyi made his debut for Frankfurt as a late substitute in a German Cup match against Hertha Berlin. After being named as a substitute for six league matches, he made his debut on 19 February 2016, playing 89 minutes against FC St. Pauli.[7] Awoniyi suffered relegation with Frankfurt, and he returned to Liverpool at the end of the season.
On 26 August 2016, Dutch team NEC confirmed that Awoniyi had joined them on a season-long loan and was expected to join the squad the following week after the formalities of his work permit were completed.[8] On 10 September, he made his Eredivisie debut in a 4–0 defeat of NEC to PSV Eindhoven, being replaced in the 72nd minute by Michael Heinloth.[9]With NEC, the Nigerian suffered his second consecutive relegation, being relegated from Eredivisie in 2017.[10]
In July 2017, Awoniyi left NEC and joined Belgian club Royal Excel Mouscron on a season-long loan, and made his debut on 12 August when he started the match against KSC Lokeren, scoring within 22 minutes.[11]
On 17 July 2018, Awoniyi signed a new long-term deal with Liverpool,[12] and on 23 July sealed a season-long loan to another Belgian club, Gent.[13] On 11 January 2019, it was announced that his loan to Gent was cut short, and Awoniyi was loaned to Mouscron again.[14] In April he said that his struggle to get a UK work permit could end his Liverpool career.[15]
On 6 August 2019, Liverpool confirmed Awoniyi had joined Bundesliga side Mainz 05 on a season-long loan.[16] He was hospitalized in June 2020, after sustaining a severe concussion during a 1–0 loss to FC Augsburg in the league.[17]
On 19 September 2020, Awoniyi left for his seventh loan spell, this time joining Bundesliga side Union Berlin for a year.[18]
On 20 July 2021, Awoniyi rejoined Union Berlin, this time on a permanent basis.[19] The German club reportedly paid £6.5 million for the forward.[20] Liverpool negotiated a 10% sell-on clause in this deal.[21]
On 25 June 2022, Awoniyi completed a move to newly promoted Premier League side Nottingham Forest on a five-year deal.[22] The transfer fee paid was a club record for Forest, reportedly £17 million.[23] On 14 August 2022, he scored his first Premier League goal in a 1–0 win against West Ham United.[24] On 22 October 2022, he scored the winning goal against Liverpool in the Premier League match at home.[25]
Awoniyi represented Nigeria at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup and went on to win the tournament, scoring four goals during the competition.[26] He also represented Nigeria at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand after winning the 2015 African U-20 Championship in Senegal.[27]
On 12 April 2015, he scored a brace on his debut for the Nigeria U-23 team in a match against Zambia, as his team went on to qualify for the 2015 All African Games.[28]
He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[29]
He was selected by Gernot Rohr in late 2021 to represent Nigeria at the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, making his debut in their 1–0 loss to the Central African Republic.[30] Awoniyi was selected to represent Nigeria at the AFCON 2021 where he led the line for Nigeria throughout the tournament.[31] His only goal during the tournament came in the 3-1 group stage win against Sudan.[32]
Parallels have been drawn between Awoniyi's style of play, and that of Rashidi Yekini, Nigeria's all-time highest goalscorer.[33]
Awoniyi has a younger twin sister called Kehinde.[34] He married his partner Taiwo Jesudun in an engagement and traditional wedding in Kabba on 15 June 2018, followed by a white wedding on 16 June in Ilorin.[35]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Liverpool | 2015–16 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
2016–17 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
2017–18 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
2018–19 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
2019–20 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
2020–21 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
FSV Frankfurt (loan) | 2015–16 | 2. Bundesliga | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 14 | 1 | |||
NEC (loan) | 2016–17 | Eredivisie | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 22 | 3 | ||
Mouscron (loan) | 2017–18 | Belgian First Division A | 27 | 7 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 2 | 31 | 10 | ||
Gent (loan) | 2018–19 | Belgian First Division A | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | — | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | — | 22 | 3 | ||
Mouscron (loan) | 2018–19 | Belgian First Division A | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7[lower-alpha 2] | 4 | 16 | 11 | ||
Mainz 05 (loan) | 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 1 | |||
Union Berlin (loan) | 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 21 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 22 | 5 | |||
Union Berlin | 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 31 | 15 | 4 | 1 | — | 8[lower-alpha 4] | 4 | — | 43 | 20 | ||
Nottingham Forest | 2022–23 | Premier League | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 3 | ||
Career total | 160 | 41 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 197 | 57 |
Nigeria U17
Nigeria U20
Nottingham Forest F.C. – current squad | |
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Nigeria squad – 2021 Africa Cup of Nations | ||
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