Coventry City Close to Signing Taiwo Awoniyi from Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest are close to signing off on the end of an era – and Coventry City are the ones making the noise.
According to The Athletic, Forest are finalising the sale of striker Taiwo Awoniyi to the newly-promoted Sky Blues, a move that screams intent from a club returning to the Premier League after a 25-year exile. At 29, Awoniyi has been pinpointed as a centrepiece for Coventry’s attack, a proven top-flight finisher drafted in to give their survival bid real teeth.
Forest’s clutch specialist bows out
Awoniyi arrived at the City Ground in the summer of 2022 with pressure already wrapped around his transfer fee. Forest paid a then-club record £17.2 million to prise him from Union Berlin on a five-year deal. He didn’t shrink.
He became a terrace favourite almost immediately, not by volume of goals alone but by timing. When Forest needed something in the biggest fixtures, he had a habit of appearing in the right place, with the right finish.
His first Premier League season distilled that knack. Ten goals in 27 league games in 2022–23 tell one story; the context tells another. Awoniyi struck iconic winners against Liverpool and Arsenal, landmark results that helped drag Steve Cooper’s side away from the trapdoor. Those moments, more than any spreadsheet, explain why his name will linger around the City Ground long after he’s gone.
Even as his starting role faded, his influence didn’t vanish. Last season he was restricted to just 18 appearances in all competitions and only three Premier League starts, yet he still found ways to jolt Forest to life. The standout came at Stamford Bridge in May: a ferocious, match-winning turn against Chelsea, two goals and an assist in a 3-1 victory that stunned the home crowd and energised Forest’s run-in. He then scored again in a vital 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, another result that nudged Forest away from the relegation scrap.
Injuries, competition and a changing pecking order
The slide down the hierarchy was not purely tactical. Awoniyi opened the 2023–24 campaign in the kind of form that suggested he was ready to kick on, scoring three goals in his first three matches. Then his body betrayed him.
Two significant injury lay-offs shattered that early rhythm. By the time he returned, the landscape had shifted. Under Nuno Espirito Santo, Chris Wood and Igor Jesus climbed ahead of him in the pecking order, and Awoniyi’s role increasingly came with a substitute’s bib rather than a starting spot.
For Forest, the sale represents a break with a player who helped stabilise their Premier League return. For Awoniyi, it’s another pivot in a career that has rarely stood still.
A well-travelled striker, a new stage
The Nigerian’s journey across Europe has been long and winding. He spent six years on Liverpool’s books without making a single senior appearance, shuffled through a series of loans, and only truly settled when he joined Union Berlin permanently in 2021. That move unlocked his potential and paved the way to Forest, where he proved he could score and scrap in the Premier League.
Now comes Coventry.
Coventry’s spending spree signals intent
The Sky Blues are not tiptoeing back into the top flight. They are kicking the door down. This summer has already seen them smash their transfer record three times as they build a squad capable of more than just making up the numbers.
Frank Lampard has been backed. Coventry’s push for Awoniyi follows a string of ambitious signings designed to harden the spine of his side. They have just completed a record-breaking move for Nordsjaelland midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi, a fee that eclipsed the £22.5m they laid out earlier in the window on Brighton goalkeeper Carl Rushworth.
The rebuild is not limited to the front and middle of the pitch. At the back, Coventry have paid £17m to bring in centre-back Aurele Amenda from Eintracht Frankfurt, a clear attempt to add height, athleticism and composure to their defence.
Drop Awoniyi into that mix and the picture sharpens: a promoted club refusing to act like one, arming themselves with players who have already felt the weight of big games and survived it.
Coventry’s return to the Premier League begins with a brutal assignment – a trip to reigning champions Arsenal on 21 August. If the deal goes through in time, Awoniyi could find himself walking out at the Emirates in sky blue, leading the line for a club trying to prove that 25 years away has only sharpened their hunger.
