Sheer frustration: Victor Boniface causes a scandal at Bayer Leverkusen
Victor Boniface has played almost no part for Bayer Leverkusen since his return. One action during the 4-3 win over Mainz 05 has now put the striker even further out of favour.
The Nigerian had already headed straight for the dressing room during the match after coach Carles Martinez made his final substitution in the 84th minute. Boniface was likely particularly upset to see the Bayer coach send on attacking midfielder Jonas Hofmann in place of centre-forward Patrick Schick.
Boniface had good reason to hope for his second brief appearance of the season. The 25-year-old, nominally third in Leverkusen's striker pecking order, was the only recognised striker on the bench with Christian Kofane absent. Schick's first-choice deputy had suffered a torn thigh muscle fibre while with the Cameroon national team during the international break, an injury requiring several weeks out.
It was another blow for Boniface, whose only appearance this season came on matchday one in the 3-2 defeat to SV Elversberg. He played five minutes and even set up a goal. Former captain Robert Andrich had little to say about Boniface's petulant departure after the match: "I'm not saying anything about that. It's not my problem, to be honest."
How badly the past year has gone for Victor Boniface
Boniface's show of frustration is likely to push him even further from playing time. Yet the prolific scorer from the double-winning season had fought his way back impressively after considerable injury misfortune and a lost year on loan at Werder Bremen, including a questionable level of fitness. Rolfes had praised that progress.
"Overall, I'm very pleased with Boni's development. Over the past few months, he's become fitter from week to week. Of course, there's still room for improvement, and every player wants to play. But overall, his conduct has been absolutely correct, and he's a good part of the team and training," he said, stressing that the door was not completely closed: "There are other things the lads sometimes do that aren't always ideal. We want players who have emotions. You always have to make sure it fits within the context of the team. I prefer to speak to the lads first and tell them: that perhaps wasn't the cleverest decision. Then that's that."
Victor Boniface: why he was not named in the Europa League squad
Boniface can therefore hope for playing time in the Bundesliga in the coming weeks, as Schick is unlikely to get much respite in the Europa League either. Leverkusen did not register Boniface for the competition, so he will not be in the squad against Lech Poznań on Thursday. The decision also partly reflected the fact that the powerful striker remained a potential sale in late summer, when the transfer window in Saudi Arabia was still open.
Clubs from the desert had reportedly shown interest in signing Boniface several times before. In January 2025, a move to Cristiano Ronaldo's club Al-Nassr fell through at the final hurdle. A transfer fee of €70 million was under discussion at the time.
