What next for Boniface? Super Eagles star faces long road ahead after failed Bremen stint

Victor Boniface has returned to Bayer Leverkusen, cutting short his season-long loan at Werder Bremen after undergoing major knee surgery.

The move to the Weserstadion was supposed to be the reset button for a striker who had lost confidence in front of goal at Leverkusen. Instead, it became a disaster.

There were no goals in 11 appearances, just two assists and a slew of underwhelming performances, including a particularly horrific 30-minute showing in the 3-0 home defeat to Freiburg.

Boniface recently admitted on social media that he had been “putting on a fake smile for almost a year,” playing through persistent discomfort that finally became unbearable.

For Werder Bremen, the disappointment is undeniable. After 11 Bundesliga appearances and zero goals, the club’s hierarchy admitted the loan was a calculated risk that simply failed to yield a return.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t go as we had hoped,” Bremen’s Peter Niemeyer conceded, confirming the club no longer expects the 25-year-old to feature again this season.

This represents an incredible fall from the heights of summer 2024, when Boniface was at the absolute top of his game. Back then, he had just led Leverkusen to a historic unbeaten league season and was a beloved figure among Nigerian fans on social media and beyond.

There was a firm belief that he was the true heir to Victor Osimhen; the two forwards became close friends and were tipped to lead Nigeria's attack for a generation.

However, persistent injury concerns, a high-profile failed move to Saudi Pro League giants Al-Nassr, and a drastic drop in form culminated in last summer’s desperate loan move to Werder Bremen.

There is no way to dress up the fact that his form fell off a cliff completely; while injuries played a significant part, he was already performing well below his usual standards during his final months at Leverkusen.

On a positive note, the surgery was successful, and while the 2025/26 campaign is effectively over for him, the recovery work has already started.

Boniface made a post on social media, with the caption “Work starts tomorrow” alongside a photo from the Leverkusen gym.

For a player whose career has been defined by both explosive highs and punishing injury layoffs, the main focus now must be ensuring his knee can finally handle the demands of elite football once again. If he can find that physical stability, there may yet be a way back to the top, not just for his club, but for the Super Eagles.