Super Eagles and Nottingham Forest striker, Taiwo Michael Awoniyi, will not be participating in his club's pre-season training camp, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 26-year-old struggled with a recurring groin problem last term, missing a whooping 18 games for the Reds, including the AFCON 2023 tournament for the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Awoniyi missed Forest's warm-up game against Chesterfield. Nuno Espirito Santo's men cruised to a 3-nil win, courtesy of goals from Chris Wood, Josh Bowler and Ibrahim Sangare. After the game, the Portuguese coach revealed that the former Union Berlin striker missed the game due to a calf problem.
Furthermore, the ex-Liverpool man will not travel to Spain with the rest of the Forest squad for their pre-season campaign. As per Nottinghampost, Awoniyi's absence is not injury-related, but rather, due to personal reasons as regards his family.
The two-time FA Cup winners have three friendlies lined up for their stay in Spain, all of which will be played at the Pinatar Arena in San Pedro. Nuno Espirito Santo sees the camp as an opportunity to help build team chemistry and help their new signings settle into the squad before the 2024/2025 English Premier League season kicks off.
Ola Aina and the rest of the Forest team will take on Sunderland on Friday, followed by a clash against Millwall next Tuesday. The Reds will face Elche next week Saturday.
They return to the City Ground on August 2 to take on Villareal before flying out to Greece to play against UEFA Europa Conference League winners, Olympiacos to wrap up their preparations for the new season.
