Bundesliga
Florian Wirtz has been tipped for a Ballon d'Or, while Álex Grimaldo's attacking stats make a mockery of his status as a defender, but Victor Boniface may just be Xabi Alonso's most important player at Bayer Leverkusen…
Boniface joined Leverkusen from Union Saint-Gilloise, amid little fanfare, in the summer of 2023. One short season later he had displaced Patrik Schick as Die Werkself's first-choice striker before firing Bayer to a Bundesliga and DFB Cup double.
What is it that makes the Nigerian No.9 so hot to handle? bundesliga.com takes a closer look…
First, a cold hard look at the numbers: in 38 games across all competitions, Boniface has scored 24 goals. He also uses his physically imposing frame to bring others into play and has added 11 assists. All told, he has enjoyed a direct goal-involvement every 68 minutes he has played for Leverkusen.
After a slow start this season, he bagged a brace against Hoffenheim on Matchday 3, also assisting Martin Terrier's opener in a 4-1 win at the PreZero Arena.
Watch: Highlights of Leverkusen's 4-1 win at Hoffenheim
"It was very important for his confidence and mood," said Alonso after the game. "I'm now expecting the best from 'Boni'. It's always difficult for defenders to play against him [but] he can and must do more. He knows it and the team needs it."
Alonso can feel confident that there is indeed more to come from the 23-year-old, who in footballing terms is entering what should be his prime years.
The goals had been coming, despite Boniface only breaking his mini-drought in what was his third Bundesliga outing this season. He had averaged 17 shots on goal across the first three matchdays, four more than any other player.
Some 100 shots on goal last term, at an average of four per game, might suggest he is a 'shoot on sight' kind of striker, but Boniface's decision-making far exceeds that. Indeed, he was 1v1 with Oliver Baumann after springing the offside trap last Saturday, before squaring for Terrier for an easier finish, and he regularly picks out his teammates.
Watch: Victor Boniface was the 2023/24 Rookie of the Season
Leverkusen are a team comfortable in possession, and have completed 89.4 per cent of their passes this season, following on from their league-high 89.8 per cent last term, but there is more than one route to goal for them - and that's thanks in large part to Boniface.
Boniface is a muscular yet svelte 6'3"-tall, and while his 20.46 mph (32.93km/h) top speed helps him peel away from defenders, long balls are also now sticking to him with increasing frequency.
Last season he won 46 per cent of his duels, a stat that this year has climbed to 49 per cent - not bad for a player who has had to overcome two cruciate ligament tears in his career and missed 23 games for club and country last season with a groin problem.
"Imagine you're training and your coach is doing better than you. Then you want to step up your game. For him to be involved in training gives us a boost," Boniface said of Alonso last season.
"Sometimes he tells me of players he played with, with similar abilities to me. He tries to improve me in my weakest areas."
Alonso played with some magnificent strikers during his career: Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema at Real Madrid, Fernando Torres at Liverpool.
The notion that Alonso might be building some sort of hybrid striker is a frightening one for opponents, but Boniface is already showing that he is a multifaceted attacker, and it wouldn't be safe to back against more silverware this season now he's off the mark.