Two players of Nigerian descent, Leverkusen’s Boniface and Freiburg’s Atubolu up for Bundesliga award

Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface and SC Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu have been nominated for the Bundesliga award for the Rookie of the Month of August, Soccernet.ng reports.

Both youngsters impressed for their respective clubs in the opening weeks of the 2023/24 season to be recognised for the award.

Boniface only arrived in Leverkusen this summer from Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise and has taken the Bundesliga by storm. The 22-year-old forward has scored four goals and added two assists in only three league games in Germany.

Boniface bagged a brace at the weekend, with one of those goals picked among the Bundesliga’s top five goals of matchday three.

The Nigerian striker will be favourites for the rookie award, but he will face stiff competition from German-Nigerian goalkeeper Atubolu.

Born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, Atubolu has been with SC Freiburg since he was 13 and has played for the club’s reserve team in the Regionalliga and 3. Liga.

He, however, made his Bundesliga debut in August and has been in goal for Freiburg’s first three games, keeping one clean sheet.

Boniface and Atubolu have been nominated for the Rookie of the Month award alongside RB Leipzig winger Xavi Simons.

The 20-year-old Dutch attacker has two goals and three assists in only three Bundesliga games this term.

According to the organisers, for a player to be qualified for the award, he must be younger than 23 on Matchday 1 of the new season, and he cannot have started a Bundesliga match in any previous campaign.

Fans can vote for any of the three nominees by clicking here.

The winner of the award will be announced on September 7.