Victor Boniface: Taking Bundesliga by Storm

Averaging one goal per game since the start of the current Bundesliga campaign with Bayer Leverkusen, Victor Boniface has only failed to score on two occasions culminating in his being voted Bundesliga Player and Rookie of the Month respectively for August. The 22-year-old last Sunday, broke a 29-year-old record in the German Bundesliga for the most shots on goal after five rounds of games

Bayern Munich legend, Lothar Matthäus has said that he would have signed red-hot Nigerian striker, Victor Boniface for the Bavarians.

Boniface has been in sensational form for Bayer Leverkusen since the start of the current Bundesliga campaign, averaging at least 1 goal per game.

Across seven games in all competitions for Xabi Alonso’s side, the Super Eagles forward has only failed to score on two occasions which indicates his consistency in front of goal since the start of the season.

The 22-year-old bagged the Bundesliga Player and Rookie of the Month respectively for August which is a testament to his brilliant start to life in the German top-flight.

Matthäus has congratulated Bayer for signing the Nigeria international and disclosed that he would have signed him for Bayern Munich.

“Congratulations to Leverkusen – for the other scouting departments in the Bundesliga I say: 17 times the grade 5 that they didn’t bring this player from Belgium for this amount,” Matthäus wrote in his column Sky Germany via Spox.

“Perhaps some clubs had concerns because he had already torn his cruciate ligaments twice, “But after I saw him two or three times, I thought: ‘I’ll walk from Munich to Belgium for this player.’”

Boniface has featured in all games involving the Black and Reds so far and has mustered 11 goal contributions.

He will have the chance to continue his impressive form when Bayern Leverkusen face Mainz O5 on matchday six of the Bundesliga today.

The Nigeria international continued his excellent start to life in Germany at the weekend to propel his side to another fine home win

Bayer Leverkusen striker, Victor Boniface had been named in the Bundesliga Team of the Week following his brilliant display against Heidenheim last Sunday.

Boniface has consistently featured in the best 11 ratings in the German top flight since he arrived at Leverkusen from Union Saint-Gilloise in the summer. The 22-year-old delivered another impressive showing for Xabi Alonso’s men at the BayerArena as they shot down newly-promoted Heidenheim.

Boniface scored twice – one in each half, as the Werkself soared to a 4-1 win.

The Super Eagles forward opened the scoring for the home team in the ninth minute after he received a pass on the edge of the box before turning his marker and slotting into the net with expertise.

The former Bodo/Glimt ace then completed his brace from the penalty spot midway through the second period.

And for his troubles, Whoscored gave Boniface a 9.05 rating – the fourth best in the Bundesliga at the weekend.

In the Team of the Week, the Nigerian forward leads the attack line alongside Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane and VfB Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy.

Boniface last Sunday made history in the German Bundesliga with the most shots on goal in the league’s first five games.

In the 1994-1995 German Bundesliga season, Uwe Wegmann, who was playing for Bochum became the first player in the history of the league to register 25 shots on target in five games.

Since then, no player has been able to overtake such a feat inspite the league having witnessed some deadly attackers like Robert Lewandowski who currently plays for FC Barcelona in Spain, and Erling Haaland who currently plays for Manchester City in England.

Meanwhile, Boniface has responded to breaking a 29-year-old record in the German Bundesliga for the most shots on goal after five rounds of games.

In his post-match comments, Boniface expressed his dissatisfaction with breaking the long-standing record, believing he could have performed even better. He was quoted as saying, “If you have 38 shots on goal as a player, you should have scored at least 25 goals. So, I don’t want to congratulate myself on that.”

Notably, Boniface has only failed to make a goal contribution for Bayer Leverkusen on one occasion this season, which occurred during their 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich on matchday four of the Bundesliga. So far, he has scored a total of eight goals across all competitions for Leverkusen.

Meanwhile, Club Brugge coach, Ronny Deila, has admitted that he was ‘stupid’ to pass up a chance to sign Boniface during his time as Valerenga coach.

Boniface who has since enjoyed a meteoric rise in the last four years underwent trials at Valerenga and was rejected by the club when Deila was in charge.

But the 22-year-old striker joined former Norwegian giants Bodø/Glimt in 2019 and after an impressive spell at the club he moved to Belgian side Royale Union Saint Gilliose in a deal worth €6.1m.

Following an impressive debut season in Belgium, Boniface’s outstanding form saw him earn a €20m move to Bayer Leverkusen after he had scored 17 goals and 12 assists in 51 games.

Since he arrived at the club in the summer, Boniface has been on fire. His performances have been absolutely outstanding registering six goals and three assists in six appearances.

“I made a mistake once, but that had nothing to do with work ethic. Boniface was on trial with me at Valerenga,” Deila told Nieuwsblad.

“I already had a similar striker, so I didn’t really care about Boniface. He went to Bodø/Glimt afterwards. Stupid of me.”

Boniface ended his association with Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the summer for a fee of 20 million euros.