“I feel proud” – Victor Boniface talks about his start to life at Bayer Leverkusen

Victor Boniface has said he feels proud playing for Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga.

Boniface joined Leverkusen in July from Union Saint-Gilliose in Belgium and has had a remarkable start to life in the German top division.

The Nigerian forward has scored seven goals – the most of any player in the team – in seven games to help his side top the Bundesliga standings.

In his home in Cologine, Germany, the 22-year-old shared with Omasports his start to life in the Bundesliga and expressed satisfaction with how things are shaping up.

“Playing for the first team directly and playing good and helping the team has been good for me,” said Boniface, while also stating that it’s been a surprise for him, given how he’s hit the ground running early in his first campaign in the Bundesliga – a league that – some will argue – is tougher than the Belgian Pro League.

A month after joining Leverkusen, Boniface won the league’s Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month awards – honours enriched with the genuine love showered on him by fans, who now chant his name during games.

“I feel very proud, you know,” he said. “This is why we play football – to fall in love with the game and also fall in love with the fans.

“The fans were incredible even before joining the club. Even sometime in Nigeria when I was putting on their match kit to train, they kept texting me ‘we’ll be happy to have you’ and stuff.” Boniface further revealed that even after Union Saint-Gilliose rejected the German’s first offer, he kept on receiving messages from the club’s supporters.

Leverkusen are now on a terrific run of form. They have won six of their seven games this season, drawing one, and are top of the league – two points above champions Bayern Munich. After the international break, they face seventh-placed Wolfsburg and Boniface will look to, again, help his side maintain their momentum.

However, the Nigerian says the team’s admirable success isn’t because of him alone. “My work is to help the team, you know. We signed six, seven players. Everyone is working hard for the team. Give credit to all of the team, it’s about the team” he said, and went on to praise coach Xabi Alonso, whom he is “very happy” to work with.

“He’s a great guy, he’s a great coach, he’s a great football player,” Boniface said of the former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder, who has had immense success since taking over at Bayer Leverkusen.

The Spaniard, 41, left Real Sociedad B for the Bundesliga club in October 2022, and helped the side finish sixth in the German top flight last season, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League, while this time out they are top of the league and their Europa League group.

“As a coach, he’s passionate,” Boniface continued. “He knows what he wants and I am really happy to be working with someone like him. He’s different from other coaches I have worked with because he knows the kind of football I play, and he tries to help me with what I do not know yet. He is a great guy.

“I remember when I signed for Leverkusen, I had a meeting with him and as he was talking, I was just looking at him – he’s a legend in the game.”