Victor Boniface has been sidelined for close to a month now after suffering a hamstring injury while on international duty with the Super Eagles of Nigeria, he was expected to be out for a few weeks with his return expected for the last game of the year against Freiburg but he wasn't fit to feature.
His absence has given room for Patrik Schick and has gone on to fully take hold of the opportunity after the Czech striker grabbed four goals yesterday in the 5-1 win over Freiburg to mount pressure on Boniface who's expected to return in the new year, Nigeriasoccernet.com writes.
Xabi Alonso during his pressers after the game when responding to Oma Akatugba's question on how he feels about the growing challenge of deciding who will play as the main striker for Bayer Leverkusen moving forward clarified the situation.
"I have difficulty in choosing players to use in all the positions, I like to have it.
“What we want is that everyone is fighting for a position to get better and help them team.
“We’ll have so many games, all the players will have their moments. But the most important is that the same way that Patrik Schick is in good form, we want to have Boniface in good form as well. We want him fully fit that he forgets his injuries, he is working hard on the pitch, and scoring goals.
“Boniface and Schick decide who plays because the one that deserves and proves himself usually gets the chance.”
Boniface will be looking to feature in 2025 firstly during the friendly against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen on Sunday, 5 January before the first competitive fixture of the new year away at Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Friday, 10 January.
By Olaleye Oluwadamilola