Victor Boniface is a Nigerian international striker who plays at Bayer Leverkusen and is rumoured to have attracted the interest of numerous teams, especially AC Milan, as of late.
With some of the biggest names having already completed their summer transfer like Florian Wirtz to Liverpool and Viktor Gyökeres to Arsenal, I Rossoneri have found themselves with fewer choices to reinforce their strikers’ list.
In fact, Boniface can be considered one of the most powerful strikers available on the market at the moment.
Of course, just like any other move, this deal will certainly have its pros and cons, as the player surely has some weaknesses.
In this tactical analysis and scout report, we will explore Victor Boniface style of play, his roles as a striker, and showcase Boniface’s finishing skills and overall traits to identify further what to expect from him in case he joins Milan.
The analysis will also provide a comparison between him and his potential teammate at Milan, Santiago Giménez.
We will examine whether both strikers can be complementary and whether Boniface would be an upgrade for Giménez.
Victor Boniface Style Of Play
Indeed, Boniface is not one of the renowned attacking names at the moment; however, he proved in the latest seasons that he can be a very reliable and dangerous forward.
He has been outstanding with Die Werkself, especially in the Bundesliga, with 14 goals and nine assists in 23 league games in his first season with them.
In his second season with Bayer Leverkusen, he scored eight goals and made two assists in 19 games.
It is important to note that in his first season, he scored 21 goals and provided 10 assists in 34 games, all competitions combined.
This means that Boniface was very dangerous and clinical in that season, despite not playing all the Bundesliga games.
That said, Boniface played fewer games in the 2024/2025 season and, therefore, scored fewer goals and had a smaller impact on his team in terms of goal contribution.
This absence was due to recurrent and varied injuries that marked his season and prevented him from remaining consistent and helping his team in crucial phases.
Milan needs to consider that aspect seriously.
It will be fundamental to sign a striker who is reliably fit and who does not risk getting injured early in the season.
In fact, Milan will have to be very attentive before finalising the deal, mainly because Boniface has a worrying injury history, with two cruciate ligament injuries in 2018/2019 and in 2020/2021, in addition to varied minor injuries in the latest seasons, such as hamstring injuries and thigh problems.
Apart from that, no one can deny that Boniface would be a very suitable striker for Milan.
He has the physical strength, aggression, and power needed to win duels inside the box.
He also has exceptional dribbling skills that help him beat his opponents in 1v1 confrontations.
Massimiliano Allegri will surely love to work with a similar striker and would more likely use him as the starting striker if the deal goes through.
But at the same time, Boniface will have to guarantee his spot by confirming his abilities and performing well at Milan.
Otherwise, Giménez will surely win the starting spot as he will also strive to get more minutes per game.
The challenge for Boniface is also related to the differences between the Bundesliga and Serie A, knowing that Boniface has never played neither in Serie A, nor in EPL or La Liga, which makes it risky for him to adapt quickly and be able to play in the convincing way he was used to in the Bundesliga.
With Serie A being more tactical and aggressive defensively than the Bundesliga, Boniface is expected to face some difficulties at the start of his journey at Milan and will need to work very hard to avoid suffering from adaptation issues or not being able to perform well like many other players who were put in the same situation and failed to keep up with the league upgrade.
Victor Boniface Radar Chart
According to the player’s profile, Boniface is a striker who shoots a lot at goal, as the pizza map shows.
What is even more important is that his shots are usually very powerful and dangerous, creating issues for the opponent even if he attempts them using his left foot.
His reliance on power often compensates for his less accurate shots or shots attempted from difficult angles, increasing his success rate in terms of shots on target and the consequences of those shots, generating either second balls, corners, or goals.
And even though his passing accuracy rates are not the best compared to those of other strikers, his dangerous passing averages are quite outstanding for a striker.
This confirms that he is an intelligent striker who usually opts for complicated key passes that create a lot of danger if they reach their receivers.
However, these passes have a high margin of failure, which explains the below-average accuracy rate.
Attempting riskier key passes can be considered one of Boniface’s traits that few strikers actually have, but at the same time, working to improve his accuracy rates of such key passes would be very rewarding for Boniface’s overall numbers and for his potential new team.
Victor Boniface In Possession
In addition to shooting and passing, Boniface is a great dribbler and a player who loves winning offensive duels through progressive runs and intelligent dribbling.
He relies on strength and endurance to get past players and resist their disturbance.
This can also represent a powerful asset for Boniface, especially compared to his rivals within the team.
For instance, Giménez is a different type of striker who is excellent at finishing but who does not really retreat and progress with the ball much.
He prefers to stay inside the box and finish actions.
Furthermore, Giménez does not have the necessary dribbling skills or Boniface’s speed to execute this role successfully.
Victor Boniface Vs Santiago Giménez Comparison
Giménez is quite better in terms of positioning inside the box, especially during set-pieces.
He knows how to time his movement without the ball to finish actions and is more efficient at receiving crosses than Boniface.
Giménez also has better passing accuracy rates, but that does not mean he is a better passer than Boniface.
Giménez often opts for backwards or simple passes, while Boniface usually makes more complicated key passes between the lines or between defenders, creating goalscoring situations.
We can also argue that Boniface is a better dribbler and a striker who gets more involved in his team’s action.
This explains why his opposition penalty area touches per match and his shots per match are higher than those of Giménez.
Boniface does not always wait for a suitable pass but makes the effort by himself to get the ball and penetrate through the opposing defence whenever possible.
Therefore, in the context of Milan and if the transfer deal goes through, it would be wiser to start the season with Boniface as a striker rather than Giménez, while giving the latter sufficient playing minutes during the second-halves to try imposing himself with goals and why not snatching a starting spot instead of Boniface especially if the latter does not convince during his initial period.
Allegri can also consider the idea of playing with two strikers as both strikers can be complementary, with Boniface being the second striker who retreats and moves to the wings Giménez becoming the main stationary striker who remains inside the box and waits for passes and crosses, as well as having the duty to block defenders, move a lot without the ball to free himself from marking and create space for his teammates.
Nevertheless, this attacking duo idea seems unlikely mainly because Allegri has already declared his intention to use three midfielders.
He will most likely be playing with two wingers and a striker upfront.
The attacking-duo plan will remain as an emergency option, however, to be used during games, especially when the team is behind in score, or if the initial formation of the new season fails to help the players perform at their best or reach the needed results at the start of the season.
Victor Boniface Vs Santiago Giménez Stats
Victor Boniface Finishing Abilities
Boniface is a striker who finishes with various techniques and knows how to deal with complicated situations.
He is excellent at resisting defenders’ marking and winning duels inside the box, which makes him very valuable and useful during crosses and set-pieces.
With an overall average of 0.57 goals per game, Boniface can still improve in terms of goalscoring numbers.
However, we have to take into consideration the recurrent injuries and their impact on the player’s form and match sharpness.
That said, it is important to stress that Boniface uses his left foot a lot when shooting, especially inside the box.
This reliance on the left foot confuses defenders and goalkeepers since Boniface is naturally a right-footed player.
Victor Boniface Left-Footed Finishing
The following example highlights one of the many occasions during which Boniface uses his physical strength to win the duel against his direct marker before finishing with his left foot in a way that makes the action look very easy.
Boniface also excels at being well-positioned to get second balls and score them, and perhaps his goal against Milan in last season’s UEFA Champions League is the perfect proof of that.
Victor Boniface Dribbling
Furthermore, Boniface is a striker who likes to dribble past defenders inside the box.
He prefers to keep his calm and not shoot without too much thought.
This makes him even more dangerous, as defenders cannot always know what to expect from him since he sometimes dribbles before shooting and sometimes shoots from a first touch.
His high dribbling success rate makes Boniface a unique striker.
It raises his shooting averages above others because successful dribbling creates more shooting opportunities for him than other strikers who are more static and prefer to wait for crosses only.
Moreover, Boniface’s accelerations without the ball can be extremely useful to the team, as they facilitate the mission for midfielders or wingers and orient their passing trajectory.
Recognising Boniface’s exceptional running skills, he consistently wins running duels against his opponents, achieving a high average.
Victor Boniface Anticipatory Movements
His awareness and quick anticipatory movements also make things easier for Boniface, as they give him more time and space to finish.
This goal action highlights Boniface’s anticipatory run towards the empty space in an attempt to create a passing solution for his teammate and eventually a goalscoring opportunity for himself.
And since he started that run at the back of the defender, he could get to it first and finish it inside the net.
Conclusion
Boniface can certainly represent a great attacking addition to Allegri’s AC Milan.
Both sides will have to pay attention to two key aspects:
- Working on preventing unnecessary injuries, especially long ones during the season.
- Making sure that Boniface adapts quickly to Serie A’s playing style so that he can keep the same level of performance compared to Bundesliga, especially in terms of goalscoring.
If these two aspects are under control, Boniface has the potential to play as Milan’s starting striker, with Giménez becoming the plan B striker.
