Jurgen Klopp established something of a dynasty at Anfield, building Liverpool up against superior financial powers to enjoy a period of illustrious success that transcended expectations.

Quite simply, no one foresaw what was coming when the German arrived, picking up a unit that had fallen by the wayside under Brendan Rodgers and had – one brilliant Luis Suarez-fuelled season aside – toiled for several painful years.

He built his team with shrewd signings, welcoming promising players and convincing them that they were elite-level stars. He transformed the Merseyside outfit from wall to wall.

While many young talents went from strength to strength under Klopp’s wing, not everyone managed to enter the Anfield ascendancy, with Taiwo Awoniyi a shining example of a talented prospect to failed to make the grade but has still forged an impressive career for himself.

Why Liverpool sold Taiwo Awoniyi

Liverpool actually signed Awoniyi, who is now 27 years old, when he was in the maiden phase of his career, plucking him from the Imperial Soccer Academy in Nigeria in 2015 for a £400k fee.

The promising forward never made an appearance for the Reds but he did enjoy spells across a range of clubs – though never in England as he failed to earn a work permit. In a cruel irony, he was granted one in May 2021, months before he would leave the Club forever.

Awoniyi’s nomadic journey came to an end when Union Berlin decided to buy him for around £6.5m in 2021. He’d scored five goals from 21 matches as a loanee at the German Club the year before, but went from strength to strength as a permanent star, bagging 20 goals from 43 matches in all competitions in 2021/22 – thus earning the attention of Liverpool’s new Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest, who pounced.

Taiwo Awoniyi’s rise at Forest

Awoniyi completed a Club-record £17.5m transfer from Union Berlin to Nottingham Forest in August 2022, shortly after the Club‘s promotion from the Championship.

His exploits in Germany had convinced the Premier League new boys that he had what it took to keep them afloat in the top flight, and they were right, with Awoniyi finishing the campaign as Forest’s top scorer, netting ten times in the division despite only starting 17 matches. Clinical.

The £50k-per-week talent is a powerful player but one of energy and mobile athleticism too. He plays in an advanced forward role but drops deep and makes intelligent bursts to stretch lines and help enhance the fluency of his team.

Described as a “monster of an athlete” by journalist David Hundeyin, there’s no question that Awoniyi is one of the most effective hulking strikers in English Football right now, with sinewy strength and an imposing focal presence that made a telling, and accurate, comment on his capacity to succeed in the Premier League when he first arrived in Nottingham.

Awoniyi also bears a technical quality and soundness that will have been nurtured during his time in the Liverpool academy. Albeit, he spent most of his time on Liverpool’s books out on loan across the continent and will have been directed toward building himself up for a possible role in Klopp’s senior squad.

As per FBref, he ranks among the top 12% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for pass completion achieved per 90 (78.2%).

Let’s also not forget that it was the hulking forward’s goal that condemned Liverpool to a dismal defeat at the City Ground, notching the winner in the Premier League clash in 2022 and sending the full-throated Forest crowd into a frenzy. After the game, pundit Jamie Carragher condemned Liverpool’s “awful” display at a point near the nadir of Klopp’s sweeping reign.

It’s a measure of how well he has done to establish himself as a reliable marksman and earn a sense of closure on his failed attempt to break into the Reds’ senior squad – though it was the closure that Klopp and co would rather he failed to achieve.

The past couple of years might have been laden with injuries, but Forest fans got a taste of Awoniyi’s ability during their first term in the top flight under Steve Cooper. He also contributed effectively to the Tricky Trees’ defensive efforts.

Awoniyi’s market value in 2024

This year, it’s not been the smoothest of starts, with his lack of action last year leaving him second in the pecking order to veteran goalscorer Chris Wood, who, in fairness, has been excellent of late, bagging three from five this season and scoring 15 goals from 24 matches in total under Nuno Espirito Santo.

He’s still valued at £23m though, as per Transfermarkt, which is a credit to his ability to turn on the potency when unleashed. Moreover, that figure stands as a 261% rise from the £6.5m fee that Liverpool collected for his sale and is also the current Transfermarkt value of Alisson Becker.

This is quite a thing. Alisson is only 31 years old (32 in less than a week) and has been Liverpool’s number one throughout the recent era of success, signing from AS Roma for £68m, a record deal for a shot-stopper, and is regarded as “the best goalkeeper in the world” by Klopp.

It’s simply a testament to Awoniyi’s rise and indeed the interest in his name. This summer, outfits such as West Ham United were found sniffing around for the Nigeria international’s signature.

Klopp praised the striker’s “sensational development”, and it’s not likely that there are any hard feelings even if Awoniyi did inflict misery on the Anfield side at one point after leaving.

The fact that he’s worth as much as Alisson even though his Premier League journey has been punctuated with injuries is a mark of his character and quality.