Union Saint-Gilloise look set to receive their biggest ever payout from a sale thanks to Super Eagles prospect, striker Victor Boniface.
Boniface moved to Belgium from Norwegian side FK Bodø/Glimt in the summer of 2022. In that time, he has set himself up as the Belgian side's ace who they cannot do without no matter the competition.
💫 Victor Boniface, goleador a tempo interior e mágico nas horas vagas 🧙♂️🧨#UEL pic.twitter.com/pnKvd7VOPy
— UEFA.com em português (@UEFAcom_pt) April 17, 2023
He has only a modest goal return of seven in 29 Belgian Jupiler Pro League games but in the UEFA Europa League, the Nigeria under-20 international has six goals in nine games.
Boniface strikes again! 💪🏽
No player has scored more Europa League goals than Victor Boniface this season (6). pic.twitter.com/Z6iNA4Nlua
— Soar Super Eagles (@SSE_NGA) April 13, 2023
That is the most goals in this season's competition – tied with Manchester United's Marcus Rashford – and he has the chance to go ahead when Union Saint-Gilloise face Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the second leg of their tie thanks to Rashford's injury that rules him out of United's own tie.
The 22-year-old has been compared to Thierry Henry by Belgian pundits and has been praised for his strength and running by his teammates. Alongside Gift Orban, he is one of two Nigerians making a splash in Belgium and following in the footsteps of Paul Onuachu, who left the league for Southampton in the January transfer window.
The striker's performances have not gone unnoticed. He is now the target of a number of clubs across Europe and his €2 million price tag is looking like a bargain. With the increasing interest in the striker and the approaches from some transfer agents of the various clubs involved, Boniface is tipped to make a big profit for the side that sits in second place on the Jupiler Pro League.
Former Belgian international and current manager of Helmond Sport Bob Peeters, made this claim in an interview with Belgian outlet Play 6.
“He is going to break all records,” Bob Peeters said. “Union brought in a better striker than [Denis] Undav with Boniface. He has strength, speed, technique, scoring ability. A top striker. The sky is the limit for him.”
Undav was a star at Union SG. He was brought in for an undisclosed fee but was moved on to Brighton and Hove Albion for £7 million. This was the club's highest sale in their history. However, the Belgian club's honorary president Jürgen Baatzsch has hinted in a previous interview that the Nigerian will be worth double of what their last star striker went for.
Baatzsch said to German daily newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau in an interview last week: “We take players because they have good stats. For example Victor Boniface. He came last summer for a fee of two million euros.
“He is now worth 10 to 15 million. It's great when you see our success.”
Various transfer aggregator platforms have pegged his value at €6 million so it remains to be seen what the club will accept when the time for negotiations come.
Boniface is also set to receive his first Super Eagles callup in the next international window according to sources from the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).
He will have lots of competition to seal a starting spot as Nigeria is currently blessed with high flying strikers, of which Napoli frontman Victor Osimhen stands out.
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 months ago
