Liverpool are to start their pre-season plans for the 2021/22 season on July 12th, with just under five weeks to prepare for the start of the new Premier League campaign.
He joined the club in 2015 and has since spent time on loan at FSV Frankfurt, NEC, Gent, Mouscron, Mainz and finally Union Berlin. During his loan exodus, he scored 39 goals and assisted 17.
Neil Jones reported for Goal on the 18th of May that with the Nigerian forward now able to play in the UK, Liverpool have already fielded enquiries from Fulham and West Brom as well as rejecting a £4.3million (€5m) bid from Anderlecht.
After being relegated from the Premier League, both sides will be looking to bounce back from the Championship at the first time of asking.
Taiwo Awoniyi vom 1. FC Union Berlin während des Spiels zwischen dem 1. FC Union Berlin und dem FC Bayern München am 12.12.2020 in Berlin, Deutschland. (Foto von Mathias Renner/City-Press GmbH)
Jones reports that Liverpool’s plan is for Awoniyi to spend the first part of pre-season with Liverpool before he will either leave permanently or on loan with Fulham, West Brom, Stoke, Stuttgart, Wolfsburg and Germany named as clubs that have enquired about the 23-year-old.
The Liverpool Echo now reports that pre-season will start on the 12th of July which gives the Reds over a month to recuperate and relax before the hard work starts to reach peak fitness levels for the start of the new season.
Awoniyi has the chance to impress Jurgen Klopp during pre-season training before he will have to make a decision on the striker’s future but with the German looking for a new forward, there’s a chance he could train his way into a Liverpool role for next season.
Of course, this seems unlikely given that he scored just 5 goals and grabbed 9 assists in 21 Bundesliga games for Union Berlin. In all fairness, that’s more than Divock Origi managed this term and the Belgian is three years older than Awoniyi.
HEIDENHEIM, GERMANY – MARCH 18: Taiwo Awoniyi of Frankfurt celebrates his team’s first goal during the Second Bundesliga match between 1. FC Heidenheim and FSV Frankfurt at Voith-Arena on March 18, 2016 in Heidenheim, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Liverpool have struggled in attack this season and the fact that they needed a miracle goal from Alisson Becker to beat West Brom speaks volumes about the lack of goals from Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
Anfield Central understands that Jurgen Klopp is assessing his options up front and will be looking at the options available to him in the transfer market.
Supporters are hopeful that the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Jadon Sancho could be on their way to Merseyside but after Liverpool posted a £46million loss for the tax year ending on 31 May 2020, it seems unlikely that there will be any marquee signings this year.
Mohamed Salah has once again shown why he’s the best forward at Liverpool. His 31 goals in all competitions is the highest at the club by a distance and it highlights the need to give him a new contract.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 24: Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates after scoring their side’s first goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Anfield on April 24, 2021 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by David Klein – Pool/Getty Images)
Without his goals this season it stands to reason that the Reds would likely be below even Arsenal as the Egyptian’s 22 Premier League strikes kept them above mid-table obscurity.
He finished just behind Harry Kane in the race to win the 2020/21 Golden Boot but his goals were crucial to securing top four.
Virgil van Dijk and Jordan Henderson cannot return to Anfield fast enough and the hope among supporters is that having their two strongest leaders back next season will steady the ship.
