Victor Boniface has publicly acknowledged struggling with depression after a year that brought a serious car accident, two knee surgeries, a collapsed move to AC Milan, fitness criticism from his loan club, and back-to-back AFCON absences.
Two years ago, Victor Boniface looked like one of European football’s most exciting strikers. He had just helped Bayer Leverkusen win their first ever Bundesliga title, was named the league’s Rookie of the Season, and was being discussed as a future top-10 player on the continent. Today, the Super Eagles forward is fighting to stay fit, stay relevant, and by his own admission, stay mentally afloat. “Depression real die,” he wrote on his social media page this week, a short message that said everything about where he currently finds himself.
The past 12 months have been relentless. In October 2024, just hours after scoring a winning goal for Leverkusen, Boniface was involved in a serious car accident on a German motorway. The vehicle was written off. He escaped with minor injuries, but the timing and the shock of the incident were part of a wider sequence of events that would pile up over the months that followed. New readers following his story on FootballInNigeria.com.ng can also access the the YOHAIG promo code for a Bet9ja welcome bonus.
Two Surgeries, Two Failed Transfers
The injuries have been the most damaging thread running through this period. A groin problem in early 2024 required surgery and ruled Boniface out of the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. Then a thigh injury picked up on international duty ended his season before the 2024/25 campaign could properly begin. A knee problem then resurfaced and he underwent a second surgical procedure in January 2026, keeping him sidelined for the majority of the current term.
Those injury records derailed two significant transfer moves. A proposed switch to AC Milan in August 2025 collapsed after medical tests raised questions about the state of his knee. Earlier, a potential deal with Saudi outfit Al-Nassr also fell through. Two major opportunities lost, and both times his body was the reason. Football fans following the Nigerian contingent in Europe can check the Bet9ja’s YOHAIG code before registering with Bet9ja ahead of the German season run-in.
Criticism at Werder Bremen
His loan move to Werder Bremen, intended as a platform to rebuild his career and regain form, has brought its own set of problems. Boniface went 11 Bundesliga games without a goal before his latest surgery. More painfully, the public criticism from within the club has been pointed. Bremen manager Daniel Thioune stated outright that the striker was carrying too much weight, reports emerged of him returning to training around 10 kilograms above his optimal condition, and former club captain Max Kruse publicly questioned his professionalism and commitment. Sporting director Clemens Fritz confirmed the fitness issues had directly limited his minutes. The club responded with a strict nutrition plan and additional training sessions, but Boniface has still been left out of key fixtures for not being considered ready.
Away from the physical side, he was also part of the Nigerian squad stranded for over 15 hours at a remote Libyan airport without food or water during an AFCON qualifier. The experience led the team to boycott the match, and it was one more unwanted stress on top of an already difficult period. Injuries have meant he missed Nigeria’s squads for both the 2023 and 2025 tournaments. For a player who was supposed to be part of the Super Eagles’ peak years, the absence from those stages has been a personal blow. New Bet9ja users can explore the claim the YOHAIG code page before the next round of European matches.
The Road Back
Boniface’s honesty about his mental state deserves respect. Depression in football is still discussed too rarely and acknowledged too reluctantly. His public admission opens a conversation that matters, and it is worth remembering what he was capable of at his best. The Bundesliga title, the Rookie of the Season award, the goals and the moments of brilliance, those are not erased by a difficult year. The question now is whether his body and his mind can align again. He is 24 years old. There is still time.
📌 Did You Know?
- Victor Boniface scored 21 Bundesliga goals in his debut season at Bayer Leverkusen in 2023/24, making him the first Nigerian player to win the German Bundesliga’s Rookie of the Season award.
- Leverkusen’s 2023/24 Bundesliga title was the first in the club’s 119-year history, ending decades of runners-up finishes that had earned them the nickname “Neverkusen” among rival supporters.
- Boniface came through the ranks at Nigerian lower-league clubs before moving to Europe via the Swedish and Belgian football pyramids, representing clubs including IK Brage and Union Saint-Gilloise.
- The AC Milan medical examination that blocked Boniface’s move in August 2025 is consistent with a growing trend of clubs running more rigorous fitness assessments on attacking players after high-profile injury-related transfer breakdowns across European football.
- Werder Bremen are one of the Bundesliga’s founding clubs, having won the German top-flight title eight times, with their most recent title coming in 2004 under coach Thomas Schaaf.
- Max Kruse, who criticised Boniface publicly, is a former Germany international who played for Werder Bremen across multiple spells and is regarded as one of the club’s most influential players of the past decade.
- Nigeria’s Super Eagles have had multiple players publicly discuss mental health challenges in recent years, reflecting a slow but growing openness about psychological wellbeing within African football.
