Taiwo Awoniyi

Taiwo Micheal Awoniyi is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Bundesliga club Union Berlin and the Nigeria national football team. 

On 31 August 2015, Liverpool signed Awoniyi for a fee of around £400,000 but was immediately loaned out to German team FSVFrankfurt.  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. Awoniyi suffered relegation with Frankfurt, and he returned to Liverpool at the end of the season.

On 26 August 2016, the 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. 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. With NEC, the Nigerian suffered his second consecutive relegation, being relegated from Eredivisie in 2017.

On 6 August 2019, Liverpool confirmed Awoniyi had joined Bundesliga side Mainz 05 on a season-long loan. He was hospitalized in June 2020, after sustaining a severe concussion during a 1–0 loss to FC Augsburg in the league.

On 19 September 2020, Awoniyi left for his seventh loan spell, this time joining Bundesliga side Union Berlin for a year.

On 20 July 2021, Union Berlin signed  Awoniyi this time on a permanent basis. The German club reportedly paid £6.5 million for the forward. Liverpool has also inserted a 10% sell-on clause in this deal.

Awoniyi represented Nigeria at the 2013 FIFA  U-17 World Cup and went on to win the tournament with his fellow teammates, scoring four goals in the tournament. 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. 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 2015 All African Games.

He was selected by Nigeria National Team Coach 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.