Victor Boniface January exit — A Victor Boniface January exit is gathering pace after two clubs made enquiries about the Super Eagles striker, with Bayer Leverkusen now ready to let him leave when the transfer window opens.
According to Sky Sport Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg, the Bundesliga club are prepared to sanction a departure in January, either permanently or on loan, and the 25-year-old wants the move to happen. Neither of the two interested clubs has been named, and no fee has been discussed publicly, but the enquiries mark the first concrete step towards ending a season in which Boniface has barely played.
It is a clear change of tone from October, when Sky first reported that Boniface had told his representatives he wanted out of the BayArena. At the time, Leverkusen managing director Simon Rolfes played the story down in public, insisting the striker simply had to earn his way back into the team.
“That doesn’t change Boni’s situation. He needs to stay fit, keep at it and improve, then his opportunity will arise. I’m not worried,” Rolfes said, adding that Boniface was “in a much better mood, also mentally, and sees many more perspectives again.”
Three weeks on, the club’s position has shifted. Leverkusen are now willing to talk, and willing to do so without demanding an immediate financial commitment, which makes a loan move a realistic route for a striker whose contract still runs until June 2028.
Victor Boniface January exit: 14 minutes all season
The numbers explain why Boniface is pushing to leave. The Nigerian has played just 14 minutes of Bundesliga football all season, across two brief appearances, plus a short run-out in the DFB-Pokal. He was also left out of Leverkusen’s squad for the UEFA Europa League league phase.
Under head coach Carles Martinez, Boniface has fallen to third choice in the pecking order, behind Patrik Schick and Christian Kofane. He was an unused substitute again in last weekend’s 2-1 Rhine derby win at Cologne, a game in which Schick scored the winner, and he has not started a league match all season.
His loan spell at Werder Bremen last season did little to change his standing at the BayArena, and the lack of minutes has now cost him his place in the Super Eagles. Eric Chelle left Boniface out of his 24-man squad for the Tanzania double-header, preferring Moses Simon, Taiwo Awoniyi, Akor Adams, Ademola Lookman, Tolu Arokodare and Moses Usor to lead the attack.
What a January move means for Boniface and the Super Eagles
For Boniface, the priority is simple: minutes. He is a striker who needs a run of starts to rebuild his form, and a club where he is first choice would do far more for him than another six months waiting on the bench at Leverkusen, however big the name.
It is a sharp fall for a forward who arrived from Union Saint-Gilloise in August 2023 and scored 14 Bundesliga goals as Leverkusen won the title unbeaten in his first season. Persistent knee problems and fitness concerns have stalled his progress since, and the emergence of Schick and Kofane has pushed him further down the queue.
The Super Eagles angle matters too. Chelle is already without Victor Osimhen, who is recovering from knee surgery, and Lookman has now been ruled out of Tuesday’s return leg in Zanzibar with a knee ligament sprain. Arokodare’s brace fired Nigeria to a 3-1 win in Friday’s first leg in Uyo, but the squad is thin up front, and a Boniface playing regularly in January would give Chelle another proven option heading into the final stretch of the qualifiers.
For now, the next step is for one of the two enquiring clubs to turn its interest into an offer. The January window is still seven weeks away, but after months of waiting, Boniface finally has a way out — and Leverkusen, at last, look ready to open the door.
For more on the qualifiers, check today’s predictions.
Photos: Fuguito via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0) — collage by SportsBuddy.
