Nigeria striker, Victor Boniface has returned to training with Bayer Leverkusen after seeing his potential €15m per season move to Saudi Pro League side, Al Nassr failed.
The Leverkusen man, who was excused from training and their match-day squad for the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, was quick to share a picture of himself and some of his teammates in training on Thursday in the wake of the announcement.
Although negotiations seemed to have gone swiftly between Leverkusen and Al Nassr, transfer new expert Fabrizio Romano reported that the deal didn’t eventually get a nod from the Saudi team.
“Victor Boniface and Al Nassr, deal off,” Romano posted via X.
“The Nigerian striker won’t join the club; the deal was advanced but never done as Al Nassr never gave the final green light.”
Leverkusen were going to be paid €60m, €10m more than their asking price of €50m for the player if the transfer was successful.
Al Nassr’s reasons for not proceeding with the deal are related to their pursuit of Aston Villa’s John Duran, a player they also identified before going for Boniface.
According to reports, Boniface was only the club’s second-choice option behind Duran but they had to prioritise the Nigerian’s negotiations because of Villa’s stance which did not guarantee a successful outcome for Duran talks initially.
However, that all changed on Wednesday after fresh rounds of negotiations. Villa significantly softened their stance and have now agreed to sell Duran to Saudi Arabia for a guaranteed fee worth €77m plus potential add-ons, according to David Ornstein of The Athletic.
The Colombian has already agreed on a five-and-a-half-year deal and will travel to London on Thursday to complete his medical. Al-Nassr are trying to get the transfer over the line quickly as the Saudi window closes on January 31 as opposed to February 3 when the English period ends.
For Boniface, he would continue with Leverkusen, perhaps until the club gets another offer that matches their interest as they are willing to sell Nigerian whom they acquired for €20m plus add-ons in the summer of 2023.
He was one of the key players to their double triumph last season, scoring 21 goals plus 10 assists in 34 games across all competitions.
This season, he has eight goals and one assist across 15 games and has just recovered from a thigh injury which has kept him out since November 2024.
