Liverpool have been scoring goals for fun this season as they go in search of an unprecedented quadruple. The leading scorers in the Premier League ahead of Manchester City with 75 goals, they boast the division’s top three marksmen in Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane.
Registering 114 goals in all competitions, 19 different players have scored for the Reds this season with the Egyptian leading the way with 28 goals. Meanwhile, the Portuguese and Senegalese stand on 19 and 14 respectively, with Roberto Firmino and Takumi Minamino following behind on nine apiece at the top of the club’s scoring charts.
With Divock Origi and Luis Diaz also in his ranks, boasting five and two goals respectively, Jurgen Klopp is well-stocked when it comes to senior attacking talent ahead of the final months of the season. Yet Liverpool did let one forward move on in the summer who has gone on to enjoy a prolific season himself and catch the eye in a major European league.
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Taiwo Awoniyi joined the Reds in 2015 in a £400,000 deal, but the majority of his time at Anfield was spent out on loan, in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, as he failed to get a work permit to play for the club. Yet while he was finally granted a permit last year, Liverpool took the decision to sell Awoniyi to Union Berlin in a £6.5m deal.
The Nigerian had enjoyed a couple of successful loans with Mouscron in Belgium, before sporadically impressing on loan with Union Berlin in 2020/21, scoring five goals from 22 appearances. But the 24-year-old has reached new heights entirely since signing for the club permanently.
Awoniyi has scored 16 goals this season, including 11 from 24 Bundesliga appearances and four in the inaugural Europa Conference League. With Union Berlin currently ninth in the Bundesliga table, six points off the top six and European places, he’ll be hoping to retain such form to help his club again qualify for Europe.
His displays this year have seen him rewarded with a Nigeria call-up and he was part of the Super Eagles side that reached the Africa Cup of Nations round-of-16 in January, scoring his first international goal in a group-stage victory over Sudan. However, he was left out of the squad for their decisive World Cup qualifiers against Ghana this month.
Should Nigeria qualify for this year’s World Cup in Qatar, Awoniyi will be desperate to be part of it and demonstrate why Liverpool signed him in the first place on the planet’s biggest stage. Yet, given his form this season, were the Reds premature in selling the striker?
He left without ever making a competitive appearance for the club, and with his move to Union Berlin coming in July, didn’t even get a full pre-season to show Klopp what he could do. With Origi and Minamino facing uncertain futures at Anfield, perhaps there would have been an opening for such a forward?
Yet despite his displays, Liverpool will have no regrets about their decision to sell. It would have been a gamble to throw him into their first-team squad and besides, the Reds are almost certain to profit in the future if Awoniyi maintains such form. In fact, they nearly did in January, in part thanks to Sean Dyche and Burnley.
With the Clarets stuck in a Premier League relegation battle, they brought in Wout Weghorst from VfL Wolfsburg in a £12m deal on transfer deadline day. And with the Bundesliga outfit then in need of a replacement for the Netherlands international, they went knocking on Union Berlin's door.
Wolfsburg would end up re-signing Max Kruse. However, according to reports in Germany, Awoniyi was their first-choice target. But Kicker claimed at the time he rejected the move in order to stay put at Union Berlin, having also snubbed their advances the previous summer when leaving Anfield.
While he might not have moved on this time, given his goalscoring returns since moving permanently to the Bundesliga, Awoniyi is almost certain to be sold at a profit when the time does come to leave his current club. Represent Nigeria at the World Cup and his price will increase further.
And as a result, Liverpool would be set for a windfall thanks to a transfer clause Michael Edwards included in the £6.5m deal with Union Berlin. If Awoniyi is sold at a profit, the Reds will pocket 10% of that profit made thanks to a sell-on clause included in the original transfer.
If the striker continues to score for fun in Germany, Liverpool fans will surely take notice and wonder what could have been, having never had the opportunity to see him pull on their famous Red shirt. But no matter how many goals he scores, the decision to sell could never be a mistake.
After all, while he might have 16 goals this season when starting upfront for Union Berlin, how many would he get from limited game-time when behind Salah, Jota, Mane, Diaz, Firmino, Minamino and Origi in the pecking order? Instead, Liverpool will continue to watch his progress with interest, safe in the knowledge that they will benefit at some point down the line should Awoniyi continue to impress.
