Victor Boniface's fitness, weight issues stall Bayer Leverkusen comeback

Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said the striker’s knee “looks pretty good today”, but added that “the weight is a bit of his weak spot”. Rolfes explained that the club’s goal is to get Boniface back to top physical condition so he can compete for a place in the starting eleven.

Boniface scored 21 league goals in the 2023/24 season, helping Leverkusen win the Bundesliga‑Pokal double. A series of injuries and a loan spell at Werder Bremen, where he struggled with weight gain and failed to score, limited his output to 11 goals in 2024/25. After knee surgery early in the year he completed rehabilitation in Leverkusen and returned to training in April, but his fitness was still deemed insufficient for regular play. His contract runs until 2028, and a full recovery is seen as essential for his future at the club.