Boniface’s move to Al Nassr collapses

Victor Boniface will not be moving to Al Nassr after all, as the Saudi side have reportedly opted to bring in Jhon Duran from Aston Villa instead.

It was widely reported on Tuesday that Bayer Leverkusen had agreed a deal to sell Victor Boniface to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr for a fee in the region of €60-70 million.

However, the Nigerian international’s move to Saudi Arabia has fallen through, with Al Nassr apparently opting to sign Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran instead.

“He is still a Bayer player. There have been talks. That’s why he didn’t train yesterday, so there wouldn’t be any unrest before today’s big game. But we haven’t received an offer that would make us decide to let him go,” said Bayer Leverkusen sporting managing director Simon Rolfes after the club’s 2-0 Champions League win over Sparta Prague on Wednesday.

According to reports, the offer was never made in writing, as Al Nassr was working on reaching an agreement with Aston Villa for Duran at the same time.

“He is an important player from a sporting point of view,” Rolfes continued. 

“Of course, economic considerations can also play a role when it comes to certain sums of money. But we’re very happy that Boni will be training with us tomorrow.”

“I assume he will stay. The likelihood of that is very high.”

Boniface is contracted to Leverkusen until 2028.