Victor Boniface’s transfer to Al Nassr falls through

Victor Boniface’s quest to leave Bayer Leverkusen for Saudi Arabian Professional League club Al Nassr this winter transfer market has fallen through.

This is according to football transfer guru Fabrizio Romano who revealed on Wednesday night, that Al Nassr did not give the final approval for the deal to go through, even though talks were in advanced stages.

“Victor Boniface and Al Nassr, deal OFF.
Nigerian striker won’t join the club, deal was advanced… but never done as Al Nassr never gave final green light,” Romano wrote on X.

Instead, the Asian club settled for Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran, who joined the club for €77million fixed fee plus add-ons and a long term deal, with medical booked for Friday.

There had been reports that Al Nassr had reached an agreement with Leverkusen for a €60m transfer fee for Boniface.

The salary of the Nigeria international was broken down to around £15m per year in Saudi Arabia.

Boniface was left out of his club’s preparation for their final UEFA Champions League group phase game on Wednesday night.

They recorded a 2-0 victory over Sparta Prague at the BayArena to book their place in the round of 16 of the new format of the competition.

The 24-year-old recently returned from a hamstring problem which he picked up late last year while on national team assignment.

He has scored eight goals and registered one assist in 15 appearances across all competitions for Leverkusen so far this term.

The former Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium star would certainly be an item during the summer transfer window.

A host of top European clubs, including Chelsea, are said to be monitoring him at his German Bundesliga club.