(Reuters) – Nottingham Forest have signed Nigeria forward Taiwo Awoniyi from Bundesliga side Union Berlin on a five-year contract, the newly-promoted Premier League club said on Saturday.
British media reported that Forest had paid Union a club-record fee of 17 million pounds ($20.85 million) for the 24-year-old international.
He becomes Forest’s first signing since they beat Huddersfield Town in the Championship playoff final last month to seal their return to the Premier League.
“It’s always been my dream to play in the Premier League and having spoken to (Forest manager) Steve Cooper about our ambitions and looking at Forest, with its great history, it’s a club that I want to be part of,” Awoniyi said.
He was a key figure for Union last season, scoring 20 goals in 43 appearances in all competitions as they finished fifth in Bundesliga and secured a spot in the Europa League.
Awoniyi was a Liverpool player from 2015-2021 but did not make a single first team appearance for the club, and was sent out on loan several times.
($1 = 0.8155 pounds)
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
