Sent to Royal Excel Mouscron in January for the second time in two years after a failed first half of the campaign with KAA Gent, Taiwo Awoniyi is once again enjoying his football.
With three goals in his last four games, including one against his now former team at the weekend, the 21-year-old appears to be on the right track for a good second half of the season, which is exactly what Liverpool want.
Their aim going forward is to get the Nigeria U23 international playing in England, as there appears to be real trust in his ability there, as the forward explained to HLN over the weekend.
He said: “Next year I have to go to a club of a higher level, that’s what Liverpool want so that I can obtain my work permit for England.”
Previous spells FSV Frankfurt, NEC Nijmegen and last year’s with Mouscron failed to get him what he wanted, as the easiest route to get the paperwork would be playing regularly for Nigeria’s first-team.
For that, he needs to be scoring regularly, and doing so at a higher level would certainly help him displace players such as Kelechi Iheanacho, Victor Osimhen or Odion Ighalo.
Nigeria’s next game is against the Seychelles in an Africa Cup of Nation qualification fixture, and that could be what Awoniyi is aiming for.
We’ll have to see if his Mouscron form is enough to catch Gernot Rohr’s attention.
If not, it’s all about next season.
