Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface has heaped praise on club teammate Florian Wirtz, describing the German international as a “fantastic player” and admitting he hadn’t heard of him prior to their first on-pitch meeting, Soccernet.ng reports.
Before moving to Leverkusen in the summer of 2023, Boniface was a rising star at Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise.
The Nigerian forward had no idea who Wirtz was — until the two crossed paths in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League earlier that same year.
What Boniface said of Leverkusen teammate Wirtz
“When we played them with St. Gilloise in the UEFA Europa League, I knew nothing about Flo because I didn’t watch that many Leverkusen games as we were playing too,” Boniface recalled in a chat with Bundesliga.com.
“Before the game, a journalist came to me and said, are you looking forward to the game? I said yes. And he asked me, what do you think of Flo? I said, no disrespect, I don’t really watch Bundesliga. I don’t really know much of him. The guy then said to me, you’re going to know him in the game.”
And he did. In the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final, both players scored in a 1-1 draw in Germany.
Leverkusen won the return leg 4-1, progressing 5-2 on aggregate, and Boniface’s performance was enough to convince the Bundesliga side to sign him that summer.
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Boniface has since formed a formidable partnership with Wirtz at Leverkusen. The duo were central to Xabi Alonso’s side winning their first-ever Bundesliga title, securing the DFB-Pokal, and reaching the Europa League final, where they eventually lost to Ademola Lookman’s Atalanta.
“As a striker like me, you feel happy every time on the pitch when you have a player like Flo behind you because, in a game, you have one or two chances coming from him. You just have to convert them,” Boniface said.
“He’s a fantastic player to watch and play with. I feel happy to have someone like this behind me. We have a really good connection on the pitch, and I really appreciate it.”
The 24-year-old Super Eagles striker has been linked with a number of Europe’s top clubs following his breakout season in Germany. In January, Boniface was close to moving to Saudi Arabia while Wirtz is reportedly a target for Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, with just four games remaining in the 2024/25 Bundesliga campaign, Boniface insists there’s still everything to play for as Leverkusen try to defend their crown.
Bayern Munich, who lost their grip on the title to Leverkusen last season, currently sit eight points clear at the top of the table. But Boniface is adamant the race isn’t over yet.
However, if Bayern beat Mainz at the Allianz Arena and Leverkusen fail to win against Augsburg, the Bavarians will seal a record-extending 34th Bundesliga crown.
