He’s the Liverpool striker you probably don’t know much about.

Taiwo Awoniyi, though, hopes that is all about to change.

In fact, if the Reds youngster gets his way, he could soon have a chance to show the world what he’s all about.

Later this month, Nigeria will play an international against Serbia at Barnet. It’s a ‘friendly’ by name, but so much more in reality. For Awoniyi, it is potentially the biggest game of his young career.

If he wants to be part of the Super Eagles’ World Cup plans, he needs to feature at The Hive. He knows it and Liverpool know it. The next couple of weeks could be huge for the 20-year-old, who has already seen more than most footballers do in a lifetime.

Awoniyi is currently on loan with Mouscron in Belgium, his third such spell in as many years. Having signed for Liverpool in 2015, work permit issues have meant his career has had to develop away from England.

That hasn’t been easy. Spells with FSV Frankfurt in Germany and with NEC Nijmegen in the Netherlands ended in disappointment, not to mention relegation. Awoniyi admits that adapting to new cultures, new leagues, new coaches and new training patterns has been a stressful experience.

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In Belgium, though, he is developing. Liverpool monitor his progress through Julian Ward, the club’s loan pathways manager.

Ward was in attendance, as were the ECHO, to see Awoniyi score his eighth goal of the season in a 5-3 defeat at Anderlecht last month. His pre-season target of 15 looks achievable, though Mouscron are not a great side for a centre forward to play in.

“For me, my main concern is to keep working hard for Mouscron,” Awoniyi says. “It’s about scoring as much as I can, assisting goals.

“With the national team, the administrators and the coaches know the quality we have, and they know about me. There are a lot of Nigerian players in Belgium for them to watch, and hopefully I can catch their eye.”

Even if it doesn’t, his progress has been noted at Anfield. Awoniyi visited Merseyside during the last international break, training with Neil Critchley’s U23s (plus Danny Ings) at Kirkby, and will do so again if he is not called up by Nigeria.

It’s been some journey for him. Born into a strict Christian family, Awoniyi grew up in Ilorin, Nigeria’s sixth largest city. His love of football developed “in nursery school”, he says, though with money tight his parents would often struggle to provide boots for him to wear. He joined a local club, United Academy, and represented his state, Kwara.

His big moment came in 2011, when he was picked to play for Nigeria in a tournament organised by Coca Cola. He travelled to Cobham, Chelsea’s training ground, for the finals.

“That was my first time in England,” he smiles. “I was so eager to see Jon Obi Mikel. He’s a hero for our country, and he came over to watch some of our games in the tournament. He took a picture with us, Salomon Kalou too.

“And we saw Drogba and the others arriving for training, it was an incredible experience for us. Drogba is a hero of mine.

“We came third in the tournament, and when I came back I discovered about this Academy, the Imperial Soccer Academy. It was owned by Seyi Olofinjana, who played for Wolves, Stoke, Hull. This was completely different to what I was used to, with facilities, gym, apartments, kit. It was a professional setup.”

It was there that his career really started accelerating. He represented Nigeria at U15 level and by 2013 was part of a gifted U17 side, containing the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho and Isaac Success, which headed to the World Cup in Dubai.

They won the tournament, with Awoniyi scoring four times and Iheanacho voted best player. The pair share a strong bond and are in regular contact with one another.

“For me, that was the most important moment for me,” Awoniyi says. “We went into that tournament with some good players but for most of the Nigerian squad it was a chance to make a name for ourselves.

“Most of us came from families that had to work hard just to get football boots. So when the opportunity came to play at the World Cup, I said to myself that this was not about being special, it was just a privilege.

“My family were watching back home, I wanted to make them proud. I wanted them to be able to walk in the street and people say ‘that’s Taiwo’s family’. That was on my mind, to make my family and country proud.”

Further success followed. Awoniyi helped Nigeria win the 2015 African U20 Championships, and would score twice as they reached the last 16 of the U20 World Cup in New Zealand that same year. Players from that tournament included the likes of Davinson Sanchez, Gabriel Jesus, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Julian Brandt and Marko Grujic, a potential teammate of the future.

It was after that tournament that Liverpool made their move. Awoniyi had been invited to train with Swedish side Kalmar, but was about to get the call from Olofinjana (who remains his biggest influence within the game) which would change everything.

“It was like ‘Oh my God!’” he smiles. “One of the greatest clubs in the world, wanting to sign me? I had options, but that was the only club I wanted.

“Where I grew up, watching the Premier League was difficult because we didn’t have the money. I had to sneak into places to watch it and not get caught! But Liverpool and Arsenal were the two teams I followed most.

“For me, it is God’s wish. I always dreamed of being in England one day and I told myself I could, but I never thought it would happen.”

Since then it has been a mixed bag. Frankfurt was tough, Nijmegen tougher – he prefers the German style of football to the Dutch, and sees Belgium as a mix of the two. In between, there was the considerable disappointment of missing out on the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

“I scored the goals which qualified us,” he says. “I was in the provisional squad but then at the last minute my name was on the standby list.

“I thought it was not right to hope that somebody got injured – this is not my wish for anybody, and I obey my religion, so I chose to leave the squad.

“I was with the squad from May, training and doing everything. So I was quite surprised when my name was on the alternative list, but that’s football I suppose.”

Still, at Mouscron he has found some kind of continuity. He intends to bring his girlfriend and his twin sister – the name Taiwo actually translates as ‘firstborn twin’ – to Belgium, and has featured regularly for Mouscron this season.

He has two years left on his contract with Liverpool, but they intend to extend it before loaning him out once more, this time to a club competing at Europa League level. That, the Reds believe, would help boost his profile, and ultimately his chances of securing a UK work permit.

The interest of the club pleases him - “Not every club would do this,” he says. “It makes me feel part of the family,” - and he is regularly sent clips of both himself and other strikers, with tips on where and how he can improve. The most recent involved a compilation of first-time finishes from the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Dirk Kuyt. The aim is to show him how strikers can progress, add strings to their bow, develop at any age.

“I watch a lot of Premier League and Champions League in Belgium,” Awoniyi reveals. “And I always watch the strikers, whoever they are.

“Whether it’s Firmino, Lewandowski, whoever. I watch the movement, the runs they make, and see what I can learn from them and what I can add.”

Firmino is a particular favourite. Awoniyi describes himself as a striker who “always plays for the team,” and so the Brazilian is an obvious reference point.

(Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

“At the moment Firmino is my favourite player,” he smiles. “He does things unbelievably well, and I think he should be rated even higher.

“As a young player, when I see him playing I cannot stop watching. What he does, he makes life easy for those around him, Mane, Salah and everybody. He always plays for the team.”

And what about his own game, then?

He’s been compared to the late Rashidi Yekini, Nigeria’s record goalscorer, and is aware of the number of Nigerians to have thrived playing in Belgium. Daniel Amokachi, Sunday Oliseh, Celestine Babayaro, Joseph Yobo and Peter Odemwingie all emerged there, while in more recent years Moses Simon, Henry Onyekuru and Wilfried Ndidi, another close friend of Awoniyi’s, have shone. Onyekuru met with him after last month’s game with Anderlecht, encouraging him to “keep working, keep fighting.”

“It is good for me that so many Nigerians play here and have played here,” Awoniyi says. “The federation must pay close attention to Belgian football as a result, so I have the chance to be seen.

“My greatest strength is that I play for the team. I love to play that way.

“For a striker, a lot of people tell me I have to score every time. Yes, I like to score, but I also love assisting and creating chances for my teammates. I’m not a selfish player.

“I think I have the strength to hold the ball and link with teammates, although the main area I have to work on is to score goals, my finishing is the main thing I’m working on.”

The signs so far are promising enough – though he has the humility to admit things could be even better. He knows how important the next few months are to his career. Liverpool’s first team may still feel a long way off, but he’s at least on the road now, slowly but surely.

A run-out at Barnet later this month would be another significant step in the right direction...