Liverpool could finally sell £9m flop as Celtic register interest
Liverpool could finally sell Taiwo Awoniyi.
The Daily Star’s Football and boxing reporter Chris McKenna wrote that Celtic have registered their interest in the Nigerian forward.
After signing from Imperial Academy in 2015, the striker has been out on loan six times across Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
However, his Liverpool future could rest on whether Odsonne Edouard leaves Celtic. He’s been linked with Aston Villa recently, said the Birmingham Mail, but could cost up to £40 million.
If that deal goes ahead, the Bhoys may use that cash to sign Taiwo Awoniyi for £9 million and end his five years of purgatory with the Reds.
His stay on Merseyside has been beset by work permit problems, which is part of the reason why he’s never made a first team appearance. The other reason could be a little more brutal: he’s not good enough.
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Awoniyi’s best period came at Royal Excel Mouscron, where he scored 21 goals in 47 appearances with 10 assists, but it’s been slim pickings elsewhere. In 77 games for Mainz, Gent, Frankfurt and Nijmegen the Nigerian has hit the back of the net just eight times.
That period at Mouscron was strange given that it was wedged between that loan deal with Gent, but Awoniyi managed the finest football of his career and it showed what he can be as a player.
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The Nigerian is one of the remnants of Liverpool’s gamble on players who aren’t eligible for a work permit when they arrive as teenagers. Brazilian Allan took a similar path through the minefield of European loads before departing back to his homeland and Clube Atlético Mineiro.
Left-back Anderson Arroyo, signed in 2018 from Colombia, has been sent to Spain, Belgium and Croatia without making an impact. Arroyo has played just two senior games in two years.
Liverpool are concentrating on the European market for now, and have already secured deals to bring in three highly rated youth internationals from Germany and Poland.
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As one journey starts, another ends and it looks like Awoniyi could be out the door permanently without ever playing a game for the club.