Victor Boniface has been left out of Eric Chelle’s Super Eagles squad for the Tanzania double-header, a snub that caps a miserable season for the Bayer Leverkusen striker and pushes his January exit closer.
The 25-year-old was nowhere to be found when Chelle named his 24-man list on Saturday, with the coach instead placing his faith in Moses Simon, Taiwo Awoniyi, Akor Adams, Ademola Lookman, Tolu Arokodare and Moses Usor to lead the attack against the Taifa Stars in Uyo on Friday, 13 November and Zanzibar on Tuesday, 17 November. For a striker who scored 14 Bundesliga goals in Leverkusen’s title-winning campaign two seasons ago, the omission tells its own story.
A season of scraps
Victor Boniface’s minutes have been scarce this season — a five-minute outing in Leverkusen’s opening-day 3-2 defeat at newly promoted Elversberg back in August, and a late cameo off the bench in the 4-2 home defeat to Stuttgart on 31 October.
The Nigerian has been named among the substitutes in recent Bundesliga games, including the trips to Freiburg and Hoffenheim, but head coach Carles Martinez has not turned to him. He was also left out of Leverkusen’s squad for the UEFA Europa League league phase, another clear sign of where he stands in the pecking order at the BayArena.
It is a sharp fall for a forward who returned to Leverkusen last summer after a loan spell at Werder Bremen, only for persistent knee problems and fitness concerns to stall his progress. Leverkusen have lost three of their last four in all competitions — 3-0 at Hoffenheim, 4-2 at home to Stuttgart and 1-0 at home to Marseille in Europe — yet Boniface has still not been given a chance to play his way back in.
Why Victor Boniface wants out in January
According to Sky Germany, Victor Boniface has already told Leverkusen he wants to leave when the January transfer window opens, with his representatives informing the club of his desire to move in search of regular football. A loan deal is seen as the most likely outcome, although a permanent transfer has not been ruled out, and there are no advanced negotiations with any club at this stage.
Leverkusen, publicly at least, are calm about the situation. Managing director Simon Rolfes responded to the exit talk on 24 October, insisting the striker must 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 is “in a much better mood, also mentally, and sees many more perspectives again.”
The message from the BayArena is clear enough: the door is not closed, but the minutes will not be handed to him. For a 25-year-old striker who needs games to rebuild his career, waiting until the summer is not an option — which is why January now looks inevitable.
What the snub means for Nigeria’s attack
Chelle’s decision also underlines how much Nigeria’s attack has changed in the space of a few months. Victor Osimhen is out after knee surgery, Samuel Chukwueze is out after hip surgery in London, and Kelechi Iheanacho was snubbed despite scoring 17 goals for Bursaspor in Turkey this season.
That leaves Chelle building his front line around Lookman, Simon, Adams and Arokodare for two games Nigeria simply must win. The Super Eagles sit second in Group L and need maximum points from the double-header to keep their hopes of reaching the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda alive.
Leverkusen visit Cologne in the Bundesliga this afternoon, and whether Boniface even makes the matchday squad remains to be seen. Eight weeks from now, the January window opens — and on current evidence, a fresh start elsewhere looks like the only way back for both his club career and his Super Eagles place.
For more on the qualifiers, check today’s predictions.
Photos: Fuguito via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0) — collage by SportsBuddy.
