Ex-Liverpool starlet set for Reds reunion after horror injury ordeal

Taiwo Awoniyi has spent the last couple of seasons vying for a first-team place at Nottingham Forest, but the Nigerian's hopes for a quick return have been dashed injuries

Ex-Liverpool striker Taiwo Awoniyi suffered a life-threatening injury last season(Image: NurPhoto, NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Taiwo Awoniyi is no stranger to adversity. Having spent much of his time as a Liverpool player out on loan while battling to obtain a British work permit, the Nigerian striker faced an altogether more daunting ordeal in 2025, when a life-threatening injury brought his season to an abrupt end.

Playing for Nottingham Forest — the club he joined a year after completing his permanent departure from Liverpool to Union Berlin — Awoniyi collided with the goalpost while challenging for the ball in the 88th minute of Forest's 2-2 draw with Leicester City on 11th May 2025.

Although the striker initially attempted to continue after receiving treatment on the pitch, he was subsequently rushed to the hospital, where he underwent surgery for a ruptured intestine.

The incident ignited fierce debate surrounding the current application of the offside rule, after the assistant referee kept his flag down to allow play to continue, despite Anthony Elanga being clearly offside when the ball was played through to him on the counter-attack.

Awoniyi was placed in a medically induced coma to facilitate the procedure, which carries a 9 percent mortality rate. Thankfully, he made a full recovery and returned to first-team action against Chelsea in October.

Visibly grateful for the treatment he received, and relieved to have come through such a harrowing experience, Awoniyi took to social media to express his heartfelt thanks upon regaining consciousness on 18th May. He wrote: "This season has been one of the most difficult of my career but through it all, I have felt the love. With the grace of God, I am grateful to still be here, to still be fighting, to still be smiling, and to be in good spirits.

"To my teammates, coaches, staff and the entire Forest family, thank you for your well wishes, seeing you all on your visit to the hospital lifted my spirits more than words can say.

Liverpool transferred Awoniyi, who joined the club in 2015, to Nottingham Forest in 2022(Image: Visionhaus, Visionhaus/Getty Images)

"Wishing the boys the very best in these last two games, keep believing and keep pushing. I'm with you all the way and I can't wait to be back out there with the boys doing what I love.

"To my family, friends and football fans, thank you for the support, and to everyone back home in Nigeria who has checked in on me, prayed for me and left kind words, thank you.

"I see them. I feel them. And I carry them with me every day as I recover."

Despite Forest's extraordinary campaign last term, which saw them occupy Champions League positions for much of the season before ultimately settling for Europa League qualification, Awoniyi had featured predominantly from the bench throughout 2024/25, while New Zealand frontman Chris Wood netted 20 league goals in a remarkable late-career resurgence.

Following two 45-minute appearances against Chelsea and Bournemouth upon his return from the devastating injury that had curtailed his previous season, Awoniyi's 32-minute substitute appearance against Wrexham in the FA Cup in January represented his lengthiest spell on the pitch since October. Recently departed boss Sean Dyche kept Awoniyi on the substitutes' bench for six of his final seven Premier League matches in charge, including the last three, though the former Liverpool striker found the net after coming on against Brentford in his only league appearance this year on 25 January.

Awoniyi was omitted from Forest's Europa League squad this season, meaning he missed their emphatic 3-0 victory against Fenerbahce in Istanbul on Thursday.

However, with Vitor Pereira the latest to take the City Ground hotseat, Awoniyi will be hoping for a turnaround in fortunes and the chance to make his mark against his former employers once more this weekend.

He was absent for both the 3-0 and 1-0 Forest triumphs at Anfield this season and last, but netted the winner at the City Ground in his maiden encounter against the Reds in October 2022.

"He's had a sensational development," Jurgen Klopp said in his post-match press conference following the defeat. "He has arrived where he belongs and I am happy for him, but not today so much."

Due to persistent injury woes and the arrival of Brazilian striker Igor Jesus, Awoniyi has sporadically been used by Forest managers. Jesus has been Forest's preferred option this season while putting up outstanding numbers in the Europa League, scoring seven goals in seven appearances.

However, he's failed to deliver in the Premier League, finding the back of the net just two times. Wood, meanwhile, continues to be sidelined with a long-term knee injury and failed to feature for a single minute under Dyche's management.

Awoniyi has made eight Premier League appearences this season

The New Zealander has now reached 34, raising doubts over whether he can rediscover his clinical form — if indeed he returns at all — this campaign.

This presents an opening for Awoniyi. With the 3-0 thrashing of their opponents in Turkiye positioning Forest favorably for Europa League progression, Awoniyi could aim for increased Premier League involvement to keep Jesus fresh for the competition, where he currently leads the scoring charts.

Coming off the bench against Liverpool would offer the former Red the chance to find the net in consecutive league matches for the first time since January 2024, and nobody in the Forest squad will be hungrier for that opportunity than Awoniyi.

Reflecting on his winner three-and-a-half years ago, Awoniyi said: "To score against Liverpool is a day I will never forget. I will always be grateful to Liverpool for scouting me from Nigeria when I was 18 and scoring against them is amazing.

"I was always looking forward to the game against Liverpool and it was emotional."