If reports by German transfer expert, Christian Falk, is anything to go by, Super Eagles and Union Berlin striker, Taiwo Awoniyi will be playing in the Premier League next season after West Ham’s interest in the Nigerian was confirmed.
David Moyes admitted West Ham have been on the hunt for a backup for the injury-prone Michail Antonio ‘for over two years’. They seem now, to have finally settled on the Nigerian striker Awoniyi.
Awoniyi only left Premier League giants Liverpool in the summer and has quickly settled into new surroundings in Berlin, notching 13 goals in 27 games in the Bundesliga this season.
Liverpool still hold a 10 per cent sell-on clause in the Nigerian, according to the Daily Mail.
With the Hammers looking likely to at least achieve Conference League football this season, West Ham will be an attractive project to the young Nigerian who recently told German outlet Kicker that:
“The Premier League is my dream. Everyone knows that, including here in the club. If I lived in England, it would be easier for my wife and child, just by myself because of the language. Also, my sister and a brother live on the island.”
Awoniyi is the sort of how hard-working, robust player that David Moyes loves to build his teams around. Unfortunately for the East enders, they are not the only team interested.
While Antonio has been molded successfully into a striker, he still has many habits that’d you’d typically associate with a winger.
He drifts out onto the wing, he looks to run the line, and sometimes, he forgets to make the important runs into the box that you would expect from an out-and-out number 9.
Awoniyi is the opposite. He likes to play in the box and has become something of a poacher for Union Berlin this season.
That’s not to say he can’t press and put in the effort. Having trained and been coached by Jurgen Klopp that philosophy will be ingrained in him until he hangs up his boots.
