Coventry City Set to Sign Taiwo Awoniyi from Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest are close to selling Taiwo Awoniyi to Coventry City in a deal that sums up just how aggressively the newly-promoted club plan to attack their Premier League return.

Coventry, back in the top flight for the first time in 25 years, have picked out the 29-year-old Nigeria international as a frontline signing, a striker to lead their charge rather than simply make up the numbers.

Forest’s clutch specialist prepares to move on

Awoniyi arrived at the City Ground in the summer of 2022 with weighty expectations on his shoulders, joining from Union Berlin for a then-club record £17.2 million on a five-year contract. He didn’t take long to justify the outlay.

He became a terrace favourite almost instantly. Powerful, direct, and unflustered by big occasions, he built a reputation as the man Forest could trust when the lights were brightest and the opposition at their strongest.

His first Premier League season was laced with decisive moments. Awoniyi scored iconic winners against Liverpool and Arsenal, the kind of goals that echo through a club’s survival story. He finished the 2022–23 campaign with 10 goals in 27 league games, a return that proved central to Steve Cooper’s side clinging to their Premier League status.

Those strikes weren’t just numbers on a sheet. They were turning points in a season that constantly flirted with disaster.

Impact amid injuries and competition

The story shifted last term. Awoniyi’s minutes shrank, but his threat did not.

Even as starts dried up, he remained a danger whenever he stepped off the bench. Across all competitions he made only 18 appearances, with just three Premier League starts, yet still found ways to swing games.

The standout came at Stamford Bridge in May. Handed a start against Chelsea, he tore into them, scoring twice and supplying an assist in a 3–1 away win that underlined his capacity to dominate elite opposition. Soon after, he struck again in a crucial 3–0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, another result that nudged Forest away from the relegation trapdoor.

His slide down the pecking order owed as much to circumstance as form. Awoniyi opened the 2023–24 league campaign with three goals in his first three matches, hinting at a breakout year, only for two significant injury setbacks to shatter that rhythm. While he worked his way back, others seized their chance. Chris Wood and Igor Jesus moved ahead of him in Nuno Espirito Santo’s attacking plans, leaving Awoniyi fighting for scraps of playing time.

A new chapter for a well-travelled striker

For Awoniyi, Coventry represents another turn in a winding European journey.

He spent six years on Liverpool’s books without playing a senior game, shuttled around on loan, and only truly found a permanent home when he joined Union Berlin in 2021. From there, he powered his way into the Premier League with Forest and now stands on the verge of leading the line for a club determined not to be tourists in the top flight.

Coventry’s statement summer

Coventry’s pursuit of Awoniyi fits a clear pattern. This is not a club easing gently into Premier League life; it is one tearing up its own financial benchmarks to compete.

They have already smashed their transfer record three times this summer. The latest headline arrival is Nordsjaelland midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi, signed in a record-breaking deal that eclipsed the £22.5m paid earlier in the window for Brighton goalkeeper Carl Rushworth.

At the back, they have added further steel with a £17m move for centre-back Aurele Amenda from Eintracht Frankfurt, reinforcing a spine that now looks built for more than just survival.

Awoniyi, if and when the deal is finalised, would add a proven Premier League finisher to that structure, a forward who has already shown he can hurt the division’s elite.

Coventry’s return to the big stage begins with a daunting trip to reigning champions Arsenal on August 21. By then, they expect to arrive not as nostalgic guests from the past, but as a newly-minted force with a striker who knows exactly how to bloody a giant’s nose.