Super Eagles forward, Taiwo Awoniyi has recounted the horrible experiences he passed through while trying to carve out a path for himself as a professional player, defying the odds, beating poverty, and that call from Jugen Klopp which aided his exit away from Liverpool.
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Cool as an ice individual on and off the pitch, Awoniyi’s calmness derives from the obstacles he has overcome to arrive at this point, which means he treats sporting pressure as a privilege.
Awoniyi is the first player from Kwara state, in the west of Nigeria, to make it to the Premier League.
Having joined Liverpool aged 18, he was not granted a work permit, so he had seven different loan spells in three countries before he signed for Nottingham Forest last summer for a £17.5million, from Union Berlin, a club record fee at the time.
From the day he started kicking a ball, Awoniyi has fought ferocious odds. “There is pressure in football but for many African players, growing up is difficult, in some cases they have seen the other side of life and that helps,” he tells Mail Sport.
“I’ve been in a situation as a child where I had to go to bed without food. Where I had to walk an hour just to get to a training ground.”
“My dad is a retired officer and his earnings were not enough to cater for the whole family so growing up was really tough. Sometimes you are the one who has to find means for yourself.”
“Of course, your mum and dad want to do everything they can for you but growing up, you see limits of what they can do. The best you can do is try to help as much as you can.”
“This is what really inspired me to be who I am today. It gave me the courage to think if I can go through all this, I can go through anything, even the worst parts of life.”
“Everyone wants to have a better life and I have adapted to many situations. Wherever I needed to go, I went. If it was Germany, Holland, or the UK, that’s fine.”
“I’ve gone through different stages of difficulty and it helps me on the pitch. I’ve had to work things out for myself. It’s helpful to have been through those experiences.”
Though Taiwo Awoniyi performed well on loan in Holland, Belgium, and Germany, it was not enough to make the breakthrough at Anfield, where Jurgen Klopp was in charge of one of Europe’s strongest squads.
It was a conversation with Klopp, however, that persuaded Awoniyi to accept a permanent move to Union Berlin in 2021, after another impressive loan stint.
“It was my first pre-season training camp with Liverpool when the offer from Union came in,” recalls Awoniyi. ‘Jurgen Klopp told me, “I think it’s good for you, Taiwo, because if a club is really pushing for you then it shows how much they believe in you.”
“Those words really stuck with me. He is someone I really respect a lot. When I was out on loan he would always keep in touch with me.”
Credit: Dailymail Sport
