Liverpool Reportedly Considering Awomiyi Future with Schalke Interested

A place on the Nigerian national team for the Africa Cup of Nations would boost Taiwo Awoniyi’s Liverpool chances.

After a difficult start to the season on loan with Gent, 21-year-old striker Taiwo Awoniyi cut short his loan spell and headed to fellow Belgian first division side Mouscron in January, returning to the club he spent the 2017-18 season at.

Since then, he’s recorded six goals and two assists in just seven league games—after getting nothing in his 16 league appearances with Gent. It’s pushed Awoniyi back into the minds of Liverpool fans as well as a few other clubs.

Clubs like Germany’s Schalke, who The Echo claim are considering a move for the Nigerian in the summer, something Liverpool would reportedly entertain if they met the club’s asking price of around £13M. A sale, though, is far from certain.

Liverpool would also be content to loan Awoniyi out for another season, preferably to a league with a higher competition level than Belgium, in the hopes he could show he has what it takes to play a role at Anfield or fetch a higher fee.

The main stumbling block to Awoniyi having a future in England, though, is securing him a work permit, much as in the case of Brazilian Allan—back home in Brazil with Fluminense now and expected to depart permanently in the summer.

In order to gain one, and with it the chance to actually play for the Reds, Awoniyi would need to do enough to earn a regular place on the senior Nigerian national team after so far having only represented them at the youth levels.

With that in mind, any final decision on his future seems likely to wait until it is seen if his current form at Mouscron is enough to earn him a place on the national team ahead of this summer’s Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com