Nottingham Forest has signed Nigeria forward Taiwo Awoniyi from Union Berlin for a club-record fee in the region of £17.5 million.
The 24-year-old Nigerian forward joins Forrest on a five-year deal from the Bundesliga club and becomes the newly-promoted Premier League side's first international signing in the summer. Awoniyi scored 20 goals in 43 games in all competitions last season. His 15 goals in 31 Bundesliga matches also helped Union Berlin finish fifth and qualify for the Europa League for the first time since 2001–2002. He explained, "Playing in the Premier League has always been his dream, and talking to Steve Cooper about his ambitions and watching Forrest, with its great history, make it a club he wants to be a part of. "
Awoniyi began his professional career at Liverpool, signing for the Merseyside club in 2015 before having loan spells at FSV Frankfurt, NEC, Mooskron, Gent, and Mainz 05. After representing Nigeria at U17s, U20s, and U23s level, Awoniyi won the first of his three caps for Nigeria against the Central African Republic in October 2021 and scored his first goal against Sudan in the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
Seeing some of Nottingham Forest's best goals in Premier League history after returning to the top flight of English football for the first time since 1999, Forest head coach Steve Cooper said, "there has been great interest from other Premier League clubs and other clubs across Europe for Taiwo." So we're glad they chose Nottingham Forest.
Our recruitment and coaching teams have closely monitored his progress over the past few months. He is a player we truly believe in, and we look forward to fulfilling his potential and becoming the Premier League's top striker with Nottingham Forest."
I think it's a statement of intent. Awoniyi has been fantastic for Union Berlin over the past few seasons, especially last season. He is someone who can make his shot and pick up the pieces. What impressed me about him is that his creative strike partner did a lot for him - Max Krause. He drove back to Wolfsburg in January, and Awoniyi has taken center stage and is happy to take responsibility for the attack. I think he would be fantastic for Nottingham Forest."