AFCON 2025
Super Eagles striker Victor Boniface revealed that he had already given away his designer clothes and shoes in anticipation of the move to join Cristiano at Al Nassr.
Boniface was set to earn over €45 million over three years as Al Nassr submitted a bid to Bayer Leverkusen him.
Unfortunately, the deal collapsed in the final stages as the Saudi Pro League side signed former Aston Villa strike John Duran instead.
While speaking in a recent podcast, Victor Boniface revealed what lead to the collapse and some of the things he did before the deal crashed.
“It was the January transfer window, I had a great offer from Saudi. I was thinking, I have been injured so many times. If I go to this place, play two, three seasons… I started calling family.”
“”I was on the internet, people were already calculating the money. I called my elder brother who loves football. I said to him, ‘I have an offer to go to this Saudi team; I also had an offer from a top team in Italy.’
“He said, “What’s wrong with you? Go to Italy — you’ll play in the Champions League, there’s the World Cup.
“”I asked him if he was sure, and he said, ‘Yes, no problem.’ So I ended the call. I dropped the phone and was still thinking, then two minutes later he called back.
“He said, ‘Someone sent me something from Tunde Ednut.’ He saw the money, asked me if I was crazy, and told me I need to go to Saudi Arabia.”
Victor Boniface added that the decision to make the deal wasn’t his but also the club’s who according to him, wanted more money.
“I already agreed to the offer because it’s not just about me. It’s about the club too, because there’s a lot going on in the football world.
“People think it’s just about the football players, but it’s also coming from the club. If little money is offered to the club, they will say no. The club also wanted the money, it was about 70 million euros, and they said yes.”
The 24-year-old striker revealed that he was in his hotel room praying for the deal to materialize.
“I was ready to go. I packed my bags. I live in Cologne, we drove to Frankfurt. The money is a lot, to be honest, so most of my designer clothes and shoes, I had already given them out to my friends at home.
“The flight was waiting. I was in my hotel room praying for the deal to happen but it didn’t work out last minute.”
Boniface has three years left on his contract and has been impressive at Bayer Leverkusen since he arrived in 2023.
Victor Boniface scored 16 goals in 37 matches as he helped Bayer Leverkusen win a domestic double in his debut season under former manager Xabi Alonso.
