Romano clarifies Nottingham Forest stance on £17m star amid interest from Chelsea
Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi (left) celebrates with team-mate Neco Williams
Fabrizio Romano has provided the latest on Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi as reports emerge claiming that Chelsea are interested.
Nottingham Forest had a spectacular summer transfer window last year as Steve Cooper was tasked with getting his side up to Premier League standard.
While not all of their new additions managed to make it at the City Ground, Awoniyi has continued to impress. The forward scored 10 league goals last season and he has already hit the back of the net three times this season.
Forest spent just £17m to prize him away from Union Berlin last summer and it’s recently come to light that Chelsea tried to sign him before last week’s transfer deadline.
Nicolas Jackson is seen as the main forward at Stamford Bridge, but Mauricio Pochettino was seemingly in the market for another forward to ease the pressure on the 22-year-old.
Chelsea struggled to hit the back of the net on a regular basis last season and they have run into similar troubles under Pochettino so far.
Other than their 3-0 hammering of Luton Town, Chelsea haven’t looked overly convincing in the final third. Of course, they still have Christopher Nkunku to return from injury who could solve this problem.
Nevertheless, it seems as if Pochettino wants to add another forward to his ranks and Awoniyi would tick a lot of boxes. Chelsea saw first-hand just how effective the forward can be as he was a standout performer for Cooper’s side as they left Stamford Bridge with all three points.
READ MORE: Chelsea ‘ready’ to make £51.5m January bid for 24-goal striker Tottenham wanted to replace Kane
Romano clarifies the latest
While Chelsea were rumoured to have made a late move for the Nottingham Forest forward, Romano has clarified there hasn’t yet been any “concrete talks” for the 26-year-old.
“I’m not aware of any club being involved in any kind of concrete talks for Taiwo Awoniyi at this stage, but for sure he’s appreciated by the people at Nottingham Forest,” Romano told Caught Offside.
“He’s enjoying some superb form at the club at the moment, he’s obviously a very good player and they believe that he still has the potential to get better and better in the near future.
“So an exciting player with a good future ahead, but Forest didn’t receive any bids for his services in August as far as I’ve been made aware.”
Nottingham Forest will have been pleased to retain Awoniyi over the summer and the forward will now be able to focus on the task at hand.
The 26-year-old is under contract at the City Ground until 2027 and it would surely require a huge bid for them to sell the forward at this stage of his deal.
