Awoniyi’s Nottingham Forest Future in Doubt as Contract Ticks Down

When Nottingham Forest paid Union Berlin 17.5 million euros for Taiwo Awoniyi in the summer of 2022, it felt like the beginning of something significant. A Nigerian striker with Bundesliga pedigree, a proven goal threat, and the kind of athletic profile that suits the Premier League Forest had secured a player who looked ready to cement himself as one of the division’s more dangerous forwards. Four years on, the reality is considerably more complicated, and the Nigerian international is now facing the prospect of leaving the City Ground without ever having truly fulfilled the promise of that arrival.

Awoniyi’s contract at Forest runs until the summer of 2027, meaning he enters the 2026/27 season in the final 12 months of his deal. The club has yet to open extension talks, and the silence on that front is telling. In the language of football contracts, a player in the last year of a deal without active renewal negotiations is almost always a player the club is preparing to sell or allow to leave. The summer transfer window is open and Awoniyi’s name is already being mentioned in connection with clubs across Europe. Nigerian football fans following his situation can check the Bet9ja promo code for enhanced odds on the Premier League transfer market as the window develops through July and August.

The Injury Toll That Changed Everything

The central reason Awoniyi’s Forest career never reached its potential is not difficult to identify. Since his move from Union Berlin, the 28 year old has missed 56 matches for club and country through injury a staggering number across a four year period that has repeatedly interrupted his momentum just as he was beginning to build it. His first two seasons at the City Ground were notable for his contribution to Forest’s survival in the top flight, and he showed enough quality during those campaigns to justify the faith the club had placed in him. But the absences accumulated, and the window of opportunity narrowed each time he returned from the treatment table to find the team had reorganised without him.

The most consequential of those injuries came in March 2024, when Awoniyi suffered a serious abdominal injury during a Premier League match that required surgery and kept him out for months. By the time he was fit again, Forest had invested heavily in other attacking options, and the striker found himself further down a pecking order that had fundamentally shifted during his absence. His return from that injury was promising enough to remind people of what he could offer, but the damage to his standing within the squad had already been done.

A Crowded Striking Department

The numbers tell the story starkly. Chris Wood, the New Zealand international who has been one of the more underrated strikers in the Premier League over the past two seasons, has established himself as Forest’s first choice centre forward and also enters the final year of his contract. Igor Jesus, the Brazilian who joined from Al-Hilal last summer, contributed goals consistently across the 2025/26 campaign and has settled well at the City Ground. Arnaud Kalimuendo, returning from a loan spell at Eintracht Frankfurt where he scored six goals and added an assist in 19 appearances, provides yet another attacking option. Forest have four senior strikers competing for what is, in Nuno Espirito Santo’s system, effectively one position. Awoniyi is at the back of that queue. Super Eagles fans who want to keep track of where Awoniyi lands this summer can follow the transfer news and bet on Premier League outcomes using the Bet9ja YOHAIG welcome code for new account holders.

Forest’s broader squad situation compounds the problem. The club invested significantly last season to support their Europa League campaign, and they now carry 26 senior professionals competing for 25 available spots. A squad trim is inevitable, and the players in the final year of their contracts Awoniyi, Wood, goalkeeper Matz Sels, and defender Cyrus Christie among them represent the most obvious candidates for departure. The club would prefer to sell players with residual value this summer rather than lose them for nothing in 2027, and at a current market valuation of around 10 million euros, Awoniyi represents a modest but still meaningful return if a deal can be concluded quickly.

Where Could He Go?

The list of potential destinations is credible if not spectacular. Awoniyi spent his formative European years at Union Berlin, and German clubs remain aware of his qualities a Bundesliga return to a mid table side with Champions League or European aspirations would suit his profile. Within the Premier League itself, newly promoted clubs and mid-table sides looking for top flight experience at striker would find in Awoniyi exactly what they need: a player who has operated in the division for four seasons, knows the demands, and still has years ahead of him at 28.

There is also the matter of the Super Eagles. Awoniyi has not always been a guaranteed starter for Nigeria under Eric Chelle, partly because his injury record has made it difficult to build consistent international form alongside his club availability. A move to a club where he plays regularly and finishes the 2026/27 season in good health could completely change his standing in the national team setup ahead of the 2027 AFCON qualifiers. Chelle needs goals from his strikers, and a fit and firing Awoniyi at a club that plays to his strengths remains one of the more compelling options available to the Super Eagles coach. Supporters who want to back Nigeria’s qualifying campaign can get started with the Bet9ja registration offer ahead of the September qualifiers.

Still Time to Write a Different Ending

Awoniyi’s time at Nottingham Forest has not been the story either party hoped for in 2022. The injuries were not his fault, the competition for places was not engineered against him, and the club’s evolution into a Europa League participant happened in part because of the foundation he helped build in those early survival seasons. He leaves if he does leave without the villain’s role, but also without the legacy a player of his ability deserved to build at the City Ground.

At 28, this summer represents perhaps his clearest opportunity to join a club that will build around him, stay fit, and produce the sustained run of form that has always eluded him at Forest. If he can do that, the Super Eagles call ups will follow. The talent was never in question. The body just never allowed the talent to settle long enough to define his time in English football. That story is not finished yet.