I knew that after training with Mohamed Salah, I had to leave Liverpool.

Taiwio Awoniyi, a former striker for Liverpool, discusses his time with the Reds, his decision to leave Anfield in 2021, and playing against his old team, Nottingham Forest.

Taiwio Awoniyi will not be able to attend his most recent reunion with his former team, Liverpool, when Nottingham Forest visits Anfield on Sunday.

The Nigerian international got off to a strong start to the season, scoring goals in the Tricky Trees’ opening three games before dishing out back-to-back assists. With six goals and an assist from Forest’s final six games of the season to help secure their Premier League survival, such a run was simply a continuation of what happened at the end of the previous campaign.

But due to a groyne injury, the 26-year-old has missed Forest’s last two games and may be out for another two weeks. As a result, Steve Cooper will be without the striker when they play Liverpool this weekend.

In fact, Awoniyi scored the game-winning goal for Forest against the Reds at the City Ground in October of last year In April, he made his debut at Anfield as Jurgen Klopp’s team defeated the opposition 3-2.

For the striker, who had never played in his six years at Liverpool because he was not given a work permit, that outing was a dream come true. However, after the loss, Awoniyi acknowledges that he experienced conflicting feelings when playing his old team.

He exclaimed, “It’s been a long journey.” “Playing at Anfield last season was a dream come true,” he remarked. “It was a mixed feeling, to be honest, because I had probably dreamed of playing there for Liverpool before I left.”

After a series of loans in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium, the Reds would sell Awoniyi to Union Berlin in July 2021 for a sum of £6.5 million. However, he would only play in the Bundesliga for one full season before Forest offered him a chance to play in the Premier League.

Following his 20 goals in 43 games for the German team, he would finalise a £17 million transfer to the newly promoted team.

With 33 Premier League goals from his current total of 13 goals, Awoniyi has established himself as one of the league’s most productive strikers.

Even though he didn’t play for Liverpool, he is still appreciative of the part they played in helping him advance in his career.

“My goal in going through all those clubs and phases was to eventually return to the Premier League,” the man stated. “It was a difficult journey, but I believe it was worthwhile in the end.”

I always say that Liverpool is a family club. You grow as a person in addition to a football player, and Liverpool deserves a great deal of credit for how well they took care of me during my entire absence. I’ll always be appreciative of that.

“It was a really positive and significant time in my life, and it played a major role in my ability to grow as a player and a person.”

Awoniyi trained with the first team and was a member of the camp that travelled to Austria for pre-season training in the summer of 2021 before his permanent departure, despite the fact that he was unable to play competitively for Liverpool.

Even though he worked with Klopp’s first team that summer and got a taste of what he wanted to accomplish with the Reds, he acknowledges that training with players like Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah also made him realise it was time to leave the team.

“Awesome, the training sessions! I was aware that you could benefit from this type of training. Livepoolfc.com was told by Awoniyi. “You don’t train that way, and then you receive nothing in the end of the season.

As a player, that was the exact setting I had always desired. However, difficult choices must occasionally be made in life, and I knew that I had to go play every week.

“You see, there were Salah, Mane, Firmino, and other players at the time. I was aware that my chances of playing were extremely slim. I was aware that I had to reach a point where I was playing each week. Although leaving was difficult, I had to make the choice.