Nigerian striker Victor Boniface has revealed that former Bayer Leverkusen teammate Jeremie Frimpong once warned him against joining the German side before the 2023/24 season.
Frimpong, who sealed a high-profile move to Liverpool in May 2025, had discouraged Boniface after Leverkusen’s disastrous 2022/23 campaign, where the club finished sixth in the Bundesliga, crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage, and suffered a humiliating DFB-Pokal first-round exit.
“Before coming to Leverkusen, I called Jeremie. I said, ‘Bro, I have this offer to come to Leverkusen.’ Do you know what he told me? He said, ‘It’s good for you not to come, we are a rubbish team,’” Boniface revealed on the Culture League Podcast.
Despite the caution, Boniface signed for Leverkusen and went on to become one of the breakout stars of the 2023/24 season. The 23-year-old won the Bundesliga Rookie of the Year Award, helping his club secure a domestic double and set a remarkable European record of 51 consecutive matches unbeaten.
Frimpong, who featured in 47 matches that season, was also instrumental to the team’s success. Boniface recalled how the warning became an inside joke among teammates, even surfacing in front of the coach during team meetings.
Currently sidelined with fitness issues, Boniface missed out on Nigeria’s final squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and South Africa, despite being included in the provisional list.
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