It has been a surprising summer, considering several Super Eagles stars in the transfer market, Soccernet.ng reports.
Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi, Samuel Chukwueze, and Tolu Arokodare made important changes this summer, while Ademola Lookman stayed put in Atalanta in a stunning turn of events.
The biggest opera, however, has to be the situation of Victor Okoh Boniface. The Super Eagles striker came close to penning a contract renewal with Bayer 04 Leverkusen last December, and the next month got an interest from Saudi Pro League side, Al-Nassr.
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The former Union Saint-Gilloise forward already had everything in place to join Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia, but instead, they opted to sign Jhon Duran from Aston Villa.
This summer, seven-time UEFA Champions League winners AC Milan enquired about Boniface’s services, offering a loan plus €30m option to buy fee after the loan spell ended.
The 24-year-old travelled to Milan for his medical, but the deal fell through after the club doctors found out Boniface’s knee wasn’t in top shape. Also, his previous history with two ACL injuries played a huge role.
He returned to Leverkusen, and the club’s Sporting Director, Simon Rolfes, mentioned they’ll be placing Boniface on a physical programme to help him recuperate.
“Renegotiating the deal? I don’t think that will happen. His [Boniface] physical situation has improved compared to the beginning”.
“Boni has now behaved sensibly. This is by no means a problem, but he has to go into physical recovery now so that he is at 100 percent.”
However, he joined Werder Bremen on a season-long loan the next season, with no option to buy included. A deal no one saw coming from a mile.
Why Boniface joined Werder Bremen for free
As per Sport BILD, the green-whites did not pay a loan fee to secure Boniface’s services from Leverkusen. In fact, they’ll only cover a little over half of his annual salary of three million euros.
While it appears to be a bargain for the four-time Bundesliga champions, it raises eyebrows and prompts further questions.
Victor Boniface scored 21 goals and provided nine assists in 34 games for Die Werkself, winning the Bundesliga Rookie of the year award for the 2023/2024 season and was crucial in Leverkusen’s unbeaten league title triumph, alongside the DFB Pokal trophy.
The following season was less successful due to injuries, although he still managed to score 11 goals in 27 outings across all competitions.
He was also close to sealing a €30m loan move to Milan, and surprisingly ended up at Werder for close to nothing. Something seems off.
With the injury problems and the media noise, it appears Leverkusen were just glad to let Boniface off their books, letting a player worth €40m as per Transfermarkt leave for next to nothing.
Erik Ten Hag made it clear that the Nigerian wasn’t a part of his plans at the Bay Arena, but the decision to sack the former Manchester United manager after just three games wasn’t enough to change the board’s mind on Boniface’s future, considering he’s scored the most goals for them over the past seasons.
The decision hints that his future at the Bay Arena might be over, but a good loan spell at the Weser Stadion might change that, and if not, might make him more marketable for other clubs to buy him next summer.
In the meantime, his contract with Leverkusen runs until the summer of 2028.