Taiwo Awoniyi's move to Forest was criticised but the Super Eagles star is silencing his critics

When Taiwo Awoniyi joined Nottingham Forest for a club-record fee of £18.45m in the summer, it was a move that many people criticised, including me. 

To be fair, the criticism of the move was right, considering the situation. Awoniyi had just had the best season of his career with Union Berlin, scoring 15 goals in the German Bundesliga and another five in the UEFA Europa Conference League. 

The 24-year-old ended last season as Nigeria's top scorer in Europe's top five leagues, finishing ahead of Victor Osimhen, who equally had a great season with Napoli. 

Yet, when the chance of him leaving presented itself, the best he could get was a move to the newly-promoted Nottingham Forest. 

This was not to discredit Forest because, after all, they are former European champions. But with all due respect, Awoniyi could have moved to a better club than Forest, considering the season he had with Union Berlin. 

It is important to remember that he moved to Union to get his career back on track after five forgettable years with Liverpool. 

So when the opportunity to leave Union presented itself following his success, it was expected it would be for a bigger club and not one fighting relegation in the Premier League. 

To make matters worse, it looked like Awoniyi was in for a hard time at Forest after the club signed more strikers throughout the summer. 

However, three months into his career at Forest, Awoniyi is starting to show why he was right to make a move to Nottingham Forest. 

He did not have a good start in his first game, coming on as a substitute in a 2-0 loss to Newcastle. But Awoniyi warmed himself to Nottingham Forest fans, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win against West Ham. 

The win was Nottingham Forest's first Premier League victory on their home turf since 1999, and it would not have happened without Awoniyi. 

While the goal came in fortunate circumstances, it was what Awoniyi needed warm himself to the Nottingham Forest faithfuls. 

But despite that morale-boosting goal, there were still doubts over Awoniyi's chance to succeed at Forest. 

He was not trusted fully by the coach Steve Cooper, who kept taking him in and out of his starting lineup. Awoniyi scored again in his second home league game for Forest, although they lost to Fulham on that occasion. 

However, on Saturday, his biggest moment arrived as he scored the only goal in Nottingham Forest's 1-0 win over former club Liverpool. The goal showed how far he has come and why he deserves full credit. 

Any other player would have given up, but Awoniyi persevered during his five forgettable years at Liverpool. 

He joined the Reds in 2015 after winning the 2013 U17 World Cup but never played a single game for the side due to a lack of a work permit and squad competition. 

When he finally got his work permit, he never got a chance to play due to the competition in Liverpool's attack. His loan stints at various clubs did not work either, but he kept pushing and finally had his breakthrough with Union. 

But Saturday's moment felt much bigger, considering his goal was against a club he started his professional career with. It is a reward for his never give up attitude and the least he deserves. 

It was not just the goal that made Awoniyi stand out, but also his all-round performance. He was a menace against Joe Gomez, who could not cope with his speed and physicality. 

He created three chances, including one big chance, before capping off a wonderful performance with a goal it deserved. 

The Super Eagles star went off with a deserved standing ovation from the home fans, and he is starting to become a cult hero at the club. 

Saturday's performance against Liverpool shut his critics (including me) up, at least for now. Awoniyi's dream was to play in the Premier League, and he is not only living it right now but also creating moments along the way. 

While Forest are still likely to go down, Awoniyi may not go with them if he keeps performing as he did against Liverpool on Saturday. 

After all, his countryman Emmanuel Dennis joined Forest in the summer because of his performance for Watford last season. 

And with 26 games still to go this season, there is no limit to what Awoniyi can achieve in his first year in the Premier League.