Victor Boniface reveals his favourite teammate at Leverkusen

Victor Boniface of Bayer Leverkusen, has described his teammate Florian Wirtz as a “fantastic player” — even though he had never heard of him before they met on the pitch.

Boniface joined Leverkusen in the summer of 2023 after impressing at Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise. But before that move, he came up against Wirtz in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals.

“When we played them with Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League, I didn’t know anything about Flo,” Boniface told Bundesliga.com.

“A journalist asked me before the game what I thought of him. I said no disrespect, but I don’t watch much Bundesliga, so I didn’t know him. The journalist just said, ‘You’ll know him after the game.’”

And he did. Both Boniface and Wirtz scored in the first leg, which ended 1-1 in Germany. Leverkusen then won the second leg 4-1 and went through 5-2 on aggregate. That performance helped convince Leverkusen to sign Boniface a few months later.

Since joining, Boniface has built a strong partnership with Wirtz. Together, they helped Leverkusen win their first-ever Bundesliga title, lift the DFB-Pokal, and reach the Europa League final — although they lost to Ademola Lookman’s Atalanta.

“As a striker, it’s great to have someone like Flo behind you,” Boniface said. “You always know one or two chances will come your way. You just have to finish them.”

“He’s fantastic to watch and even better to play with. I’m really happy to have that connection with him.”

The 24-year-old Super Eagles forward has attracted interest from top European clubs after a brilliant debut season in Germany. In January, he was close to a move to Saudi Arabia, while Wirtz is said to be on Real Madrid’s radar.

With four Bundesliga matches left in the 2024/25 season, Leverkusen are still chasing Bayern Munich, who sit eight points clear at the top. Boniface believes there’s still hope to defend their title.

However, if Bayern beat Mainz at home and Leverkusen drop points against Augsburg, Bayern will win their 34th Bundesliga title.