Improvement is the primary objective of young players who go away from their parent clubs on loan, and Taiwo Awoniyi is convinced he has become a better player
Mainz forward Awoniyi believes he has improved a lot as a striker since he moved to Germany, and he hopes that Liverpool’s boss Jurgen Klopp and other Reds coaches are taking note of his growth.
Awoniyi joined Liverpool in 2015 after impressing for Nigeria at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup and the 2015 African U-20 Championship in Senegal. Nigeria won the trophy at both tournaments.
But the 22-year-old is yet to make a single appearance for the Reds due to work permit issues.
He has, however, had loan spells at FSV Frankfurt, NEC Nijmegen, Royal Excel Mouscron, and KAA Gent.
Awoniyi joined Mainz 05 temporarily last summer, and the Nigerian youngster netted his first Bundesliga goal for the club over the weekend in a clash with Kingsley Ehizibue’s Cologne.
His goal arrived barely five minutes after being introduced into the game, with the visitors already trailing by two goals.
Mainz eventually drew that match, and Awoniyi hopes his goal has helped send the desired message to Klopp and his coaching team.
“Coming here is just to make myself better,” Awoniyi told Liverpoolfc.com.
“Even without playing for a while, coming in on Sunday just really shows I’ve really improved since coming to Germany. That’s the goal with being on loan.
“Even when you are not playing, you just have to be ready and keep on improving yourself and wait for your time as well.
“I don’t think I’m the same player as I was in the last few years. I personally have seen improvement in my game, and I believe most Liverpool coaches have seen that as well.
“I just have to be prepared to improve myself and work on my weak points as well. When I’m back at LFC, I hope they will see that.”
