{"id":869191,"date":"2025-08-30T23:12:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T04:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/30\/exclusive-erik-ten-hag-speaks-on-victor-bonifaces-future-at-bayer-leverkusen\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T23:12:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T04:12:45","slug":"exclusive-erik-ten-hag-speaks-on-victor-bonifaces-future-at-bayer-leverkusen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/30\/exclusive-erik-ten-hag-speaks-on-victor-bonifaces-future-at-bayer-leverkusen\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Erik ten Hag speaks on Victor Boniface\u2019s future at Bayer Leverkusen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Erik ten Hag and Victor Boniface. Photos by Imago & Lolade Adewuyi <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is the current manager of Victor Boniface at Bayer Leverkusen\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Bayer Leverkusen manager Erik ten Hag<\/a> has admitted that Super Eagles attacker Victor Boniface<\/a> must prove himself to reclaim a place in the squad, Soccernet.ng can exclusively report.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 24-year-old was absent as the Bundesliga champions were held to a 3-3 draw against Werder Bremen on Saturday.<\/a><\/p>\n

His omission comes just weeks after a failed loan move to AC Milan.<\/a> Meanwhile, GiveMeSports<\/a> recently reported a possible late switch to West Ham United.<\/p>\n

Speaking after the draw in Bremen, the former Manchester United manager revealed that Boniface has to work harder to regain his place.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cLast week he wasn\u2019t there, and therefore he wasn\u2019t in the squad. When he is there, then he can be part of the group,\u201d the Dutch tactician told Soccernet.ng<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe trained with us the last two days, but now he has to fight for his place. When he is training every day, the whole week, then he can fight for his position.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Soccer
Erik ten Hag during the post-match conference after the 3-3 draw against Werder Bremen. Photo credit: LoladexAdewuyixsoccernet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soccer Schick\u2019s Form Keeps Boniface on the Bench<\/h2>\n

That position currently belongs to Czech striker Patrik Schick, who netted a brace against Bremen and has become Ten Hag\u2019s preferred option up front.<\/p>\n

Schick had already displaced Boniface under former coach Xabi Alonso last season, after the Nigerian had initially lit up the Bundesliga.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Patrik Schick comes in for Victor Boniface during Bayer Leverkusen’s game. Copyright: Imago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boniface had enjoyed a dream debut campaign in Germany, firing Leverkusen to their historic first-ever Bundesliga title and clinching the Rookie of the Season award.<\/p>\n

However, his push for a move to the Saudi Pro League at the start of last season soured his relationship with the club hierarchy.<\/p>\n

Soccer Striker\u2019s Club Struggles Spill Into Super Eagles Duty<\/h2>\n

With Schick in form and Ten Hag backing him as first choice, Boniface faces an uphill battle to regain prominence at Leverkusen.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Victor Osimhen with Victor Boniface during FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 2026 match between Nigeria and Zimbabwe (Photo credit: Icon Sport)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His unsettled club situation has also impacted his international prospects, as he was dropped from Nigeria\u2019s final squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and South Africa.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\"Soccer\t\t<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tLolade Adewuyi\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\tLolade Adewuyi is a writer and journalist who has covered four FIFA World Cups, a Confederations Cup and two AFCONS. He is the Managing Editor of Soccernet Media Limited. Email: lolade at soccernet.com.ng\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Lolade Adewuyi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Erik ten Hag and Victor Boniface. Photos by Imago & Lolade Adewuyi Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is the current manager of Victor Boniface at Bayer Leverkusen\u2026 Bayer Leverkusen manager Erik ten Hag has admitted that Super Eagles attacker Victor Boniface must prove himself to reclaim a place in the squad, Soccernet.ng […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":869192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[365,2005,1741],"tags":[6246,11591],"class_list":{"0":"post-869191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-exclusive","8":"category-soccer","9":"category-speaks","10":"tag-exclusive","11":"tag-speaks"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}