Liverpool-owned striker Taiwo Awoniyi has opened up on his difficult spell at Dutch club NEC Nijmegen, where he spent the whole of the 2016-2017 season on loan because he couldn't scale the work permit hurdle in England.
The 2013 FIFA U17 World Cup winner did not partake in pre-season training with NEC Nijmegen because he was on international duty with Nigeria's U23 team just before the 2016 Olympic Games.
In truth, Awoniyi struggled for a large part of his stay at NEC, so much so that the coach threatened to inform manager Jurgen Klopp that the Nigerian was not good enough to play for Liverpool first team.
"I arrived there late and I wasn't playing a lot. I am not going to mention his name but the coach told me, 'Taiwo how do you tell me you go to church and we are losing a lot of games', and I wasn't even playing," Awoniyi said in an Instagram conversation with Eagles Tracker.
"One day we were training again and he told me that he knows Jurgen Klopp quite well and he will call him and tell him I don't deserve to be a Liverpool player. That was the statement that motivated me. "
Awoniyi continued : "Every time he sends me to the second team to play and I score, he comes back to tell me that I should have scored five goals not 1, 2 or 3 goals and I need to score five goals before I can play for the first team.
"At the end of the day he got sacked, so they brought the second team coach. He told me I deserved to play because I played in his team already.
"It was already at the last part of the season so he played me in the playoffs and I played quite well and I scored though we got relegated.
"It was not the best part of football for me because it was my second year in Europe as at that time but those words motivated me, not only to prove him wrong but to prove myself right. "
"It was not the best part of football for me because it was my second year in Europe as at that time but those words motivated me, not only to prove him wrong but to prove myself right. "
Though Awoniyi refused to disclose the identity of the NEC coach, allnigeriasoccer.com can reveal that the Liverpool loanee was referring to German tactician Peter Hyballa, who coached Abdulrahman Taiwo at DAC Dunajská Streda last season.
Awoniyi was teammates with Arnaut Danjuma at NEC and he has revealed that the Netherlands international of Nigerian descent who is now an English Premier League player was also singled out for criticism.
"I must confess as well because it was not only to me. We have this player as well that is already playing in England.
"I was hoping Nigeria will make this player their own, Arnaut Danjuma, he played in Club Brugge before he moved to England.
"He will tell me before training that Taiwo we are Nigerians we have to show what we have today even though we know we are still going to play in the second team.
"For me, the coach has the best reasons doing that, it was something that motivated me because when people bring you down, that is when you need to tell people that you are who you are and you have a lot ahead of you no matter what.
"One Nigerian striker was playing under the coach last season and as at that time I was playing where I had my best football, Royal Excel Mouscron, and he told the player he made me who I am.
"One Nigerian striker was playing under the coach last season and as at that time I was playing where I had my best football, Royal Excel Mouscron, and he told the player he made me who I am.
"That was something I was really glad about because he once told me stuff that I cannot even remember. The player narrated the same situation to me what he was facing and I told him my story at NEC," Awoniyi concluded.
The 22-year-old Awoniyi has three years remaining on his contract with Liverpool and has also spent time on loan at FSV Frankfurt and Mainz 05 apart from the aforementioned clubs.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
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