Better than Osimhen? Nigeria star Boniface is football's next €100m striker

Updated: 14 Sept 2024 19:10 BST
3 min read

Victor Boniface reannounced himself to the Bundesliga against Hoffenheim on Saturday.

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The Bayer Leverkusen striker has a point to prove this season. Last term, he started like a house on fire but ultimately had his campaign disrupted by an unfortunate injury that robbed him of several months of football.

He still finished 2023/24 with an impressive 21 goals and 10 assists in 34 games across all competitions. However, there was a noticeable drop-off in performances once he returned from his lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Ahead of the new campaign, Boniface faced a battle to win back his regular place in Xabi Alonso's side. He scored in the inaugural match of the new season - Leverkusen's crazy Supercup victory over Stuttgart - but his luck deserted him in the opening two games of the Bundesliga season.

That was until Saturday when he reasserted himself as one of the division's top strikers.

Boniface dismantles Hoffenheim

The forward started against Hoffenheim, who have been in turmoil for weeks, and basically toyed with the opponents. Boniface would finish the game with two goals and an assist to his name as Leverkusen strolled to a 4-1 win.

But there was much more to Boniface's game than simply his goal contributions. For the first time in a while, the Nigerian sharpshooter looked back to his playful best.

For those unfamiliar with him, the 23-year-old can best be described as a winger in the body of a towering centre-forward. For a player of his size (6ft 3in), Boniface is rapid and always trying to beat defenders with the ball at his feet.

His dribbling ability is quite astounding and he showed on more than one occasion against Hoffenheim just how devastating he can be when taking people on.

FootballCritic gave the striker a stunning rating of 9.9 for his Man of the Match performance and it was proof that Boniface has the potential to be one of Europe's elite forwards if he can stay fit.

The Nigerian has had two ACL injuries already in his still-young career, but when he is fit and firing like against Hoffenheim, he is a player who can compete with the best of them.

It is no secret that Nigeria are a national team stacked with offensive talent, but Boniface could quite conceivably supplant teammate Victor Osimhen in the future given that he has ostensibly taken a 'step down' by moving to Turkey.

Rather than Osimhen, Boniface might just be football's next €100 million striker.

Read more about: Bundesliga, Bayer 04, Victor Okoh Boniface, Victor Osimhen