Bayer Leverkusen have announced that they have completed the signing of Union Saint-Gilloise striker Victor Boniface.
The fee for the 22-year-old is reportedly around €20m plus add ons and Boniface will sign a contract at Leverkusen until 2028. Boniface only joined USG last summer from Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt for €2m and in his sole season in Belgium the Nigerian has performed not only in the league but in the Europa League where he scored six goals two against Union Berlin and one against Bayer Leverkusen.
On joining Leverkusen, Boniface said: “It is a special opportunity that I really wanted to take advantage of. I experienced the atmosphere here in the stadium myself, I could already guess the capacities that this club has. After our conversations, I now know: This is a top club with a great team! I am very much looking forward to playing football in this environment and want to contribute my part to the future success of Bayer 04.”
Leverkusen director Simon Rolfes also commented on the arrival of the striker: “We had Victor Boniface on the radar for a long time. His appearance in the direct duel then absolutely confirmed our positive assessment. Victor is a very present, hard-to-play centre forward, who is a challenge for every defender due to his physicality alone. In addition, he is also fast and technically savvy. With him, we have a strong, but still capable and flexible striker in our ranks in the long run. He will help us to improve the quality of our squad in the large number of games in the Bundesliga, DFB Cup and Europa League.”
Boniface is likely to be a replacement for Patrik Schick who will miss the beginning of the season with an abductor injury. Leverkusen had previously been linked with Niclas Füllkrug of Werder Bremen, but Bremen were demanding more than the €20m that die Werkself will pay for Boniface, who is also eight years younger.
The 22-year-old is Leverkusen’s fifth signing of the summer after Arthur (America MG), Alex Grimaldo (Benfica), Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) have all joined the club.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
