Nottingham Forest are set to announce Nigerian forward Taiwo Awoniyi as their first major signing since clinching promotion to the Premier League.
Forest are in advanced talks over a club record £17.5m deal for the Union Berlin striker, who has a release clause with the Bundesliga side.
Awoniyi, 24, impressed for Union Berlin last season, scoring 15 league goals and is expected to become Steve Cooper’s first significant capture of the summer.
Forest are also poised to face Union Berlin in a pre-season friendly next month, with Awoniyi in line for a swift reunion with his former teammates.
Awoniyi was signed by Liverpool in August 2015 but never played a senior game for the club, playing for seven separate clubs (FSV Frankfurt, NEC, Mouscron (twice), Gent, Mainz and Union Berlin) on loan before joining Union Berlin permanently last year.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are poised to net just shy of £2m from the deal, which will see the Nigerian fulfill his dreams of playing in England.
“The Premier League is my dream. Everyone knows that, even here at the club,” Awoniyi told Kicker.de in April.
“With time, everything is still possible.
“If I lived in England, it would be easier for my wife and child, if only because of the language. In addition, my sister and a brother live on the island.
“I have always said that Liverpool is one of the best things that happened to me as a footballer because they gave me the platform to achieve my dream and with them, I have no regret at all.”
Awoniyi left the Reds at the end of last season having made his loan move to Union Berlin permanent for approximately £6.5m. Liverpool negotiated a 10 per cent sell-on clause with Berlin last summer and are set to reap the benefits of that agreement with his impending return to English football.
Having spent £400,000 to sign Awoniyi initially, Liverpool have already made a significant profit regarding the forward and the sell-on bonus will act as a further boost for the Reds in the summer transfer window, having already shelled out on the signings of Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsey.
Awoniyi joined Liverpool from Imperial Soccer Academy in the summer of 2015.
The forward was part of the Golden Eaglets that won the U-17 World Cup in 2013 and subsequently helped his nation scoop the African U-20 AFCON title two years later.