Notttingham Forest finalising Taiwo Awoniyi sale to Coventry

Nottingham Forest are finalising the sale of striker Taiwo Awoniyi to Coventry City.

A deal is in place for Awoniyi, 29, to move to the newly-promoted Premier League club, pending him completing a medical.

The Nigeria international joined Forest on a five-year contract in a then club-record deal worth £17.2million (€20m;$23.3m) from Union Berlin in the summer of 2022.

He scored winning goals against Liverpool and Arsenal in the Premier League during his debut season and ended the 2022-23 campaign with 10 goals in 27 league appearances.

Awoniyi began the subsequent season with three goals in three matches, but later faced two lengthy spells out with injury, and has since struggled to establish himself as a starter for Forest, with Igor Jesus and Chris Wood, ahead of him in the pecking order.

Last season, he played just 18 times in all competitions, and started only three Premier League games. He still managed to record some important contributions, including two goals and an assist in a 3-1 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in May, and a goal in the 3-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, which saw his side pull away from relegation threat.

Awoniyi has recorded 23 goals in 103 matches for Forest.

He was on the books of Liverpool for six years and had several loan spells before moving to Union Berlin permanently in 2021.

Coventry will play Premier League football for the first time in 25 years in 2026-27 and have broken their transfer record on three occasions this summer as they prepare for their return.

They completed the club-record signing of Nordsjaelland midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi in August, with the fee for the midfielder surpassing the £22.5million ($29.9m) paid to sign goalkeeper Carl Rushworth from Brighton & Hove Albion and the fee of around £17m ($22.9m) for centre-back Aurele Amenda from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Disrupted by injury, but ‘vital’ contributions

While injuries have limited his impact in more recent times, Awoniyi’s contribution at Nottingham Forest has been vital

The 10 goals the popular striker scored in 2022-2023 played a huge part in helping the club to retain their Premier League status in their first season back in the top-flight after promotion.

His most vital strike came in the 1-0 win over Arsenal that edged Forest towards safety in May 2023.

But he has started only six Premier League games over the last two seasons, partly because of some serious injury misfortune.

In May 2025, Awoniyi suffered a serious abdominal injury when he collided with a post in a game against Leicester City and was subsequently placed in an induced coma as part of his recovery process following surgery.

Awoniyi returned to the team in October 2025 and, in January this year, he scored his first Premier League goal since the injury, in a 2-0 away win at Brentford.

The 29-year-old has always been a hugely positive influence in the Forest dressing room.

But he has found himself down the pecking order at the City Ground and newly-appointed head coach Oliver Glasner is keen to see the club add more firepower to their attacking options before the window closes.

A move to Coventry would give Awoniyi the chance of regular first-team football — and would equip Frank Lampard’s side with a player with significant experience of how to survive in the top-flight.