3 reasons European clubs should snub Osimhen in favour of Boniface

African footballers are certainly in demand this summer, with 2024 UEFA Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund already working on acquiring the services of Serhou Guirassy from fellow Bundesliga side Stuttgart for just under €20 million following the stunning season the 28-year-old Guinean just had.

The biggest transfer of an African expected during the window, though, involves Nigeria international Victor Osimhen, the reigning African Player of the Year.

Since powering Napoli to Serie A glory with his goals in the 2022/23 season, Osimhen has been coveted by some of Europe's biggest sides, but the likelihood of his departure from the peninsula has never been greater than it is now.

As appealing a prospect as Osimhen is, however, there is another Super Eagles forward who could represent more bang for buck: Victor Boniface.

The Bayer Leverkusen star has been one of the more prolific forwards on the continent this season, contributing heavily as the Werkself made great strides on all fronts, winning the DFB-Pokal, a maiden Bundesliga title, and almost wrapping up an unbeaten treble but for defeat in the UEFA Europa League final to an Ademola Lookman-inspired Atalanta.

So why him rather than Osimhen?

Consider three reasons.

Victor Osimhen has cooled off a bit

Osimhen had a blistering 2022/23 season, but things cooled somewhat in the ensuing campaign.

Napoli themselves struggled for form, and while Osimhen's total of 17 goals in 32 matches is not to be sniffed at, it represented a significant step-down from the 31 in 39 of the title-winning term. His personal struggles felt emblematic of the team’s, even if the opposite may well have been the case.

In that sense, then, Victor Boniface is in more striking form—pun wholly unintended. His raw numbers of 21 goals in 34 games may seem not too much of an upgrade on Osimhen's tally, but the former's ratio of a goal about every 100 minutes is a lot better than his namesake and international teammate's one in 146.

There are, though, a lot more strings to Boniface's bow.

Boniface is the more complete forward

Finishing is Victor Osimhen's forte, but he is not quite as renowned for helping others do the same, with just 28 assists since first moving to Europe seven years ago. Boniface, who has been around a couple of years fewer, is already on 30 (admittedly, two-thirds of that figure have come in leagues outside Europe's so-called ‘Big Five’, prior to joining Leverkusen).

Ten of those came last term as a rookie in Germany—one more than Osimhen has racked up in his two most recent seasons at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium—proving he is quite adept at setting others up to score even when he is not finding the net himself.

Boniface, 23, offers more overall than Osimhen, but there is another factor that makes him attractive still.

Victor Boniface is cheaper and younger

Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis is adamant it would only take a three-figure sum to lure Victor Osimhen away from the club. 

That lofty estimation is very much in line with the player's market valuation—currently €130m, according to the Italian media—and not many clubs, even those with a need for a shiny new No.9, would find it easy to commit to such a vast outlay. 

And maybe they do not have to; not when Boniface, two years younger and with a higher ceiling, could be available for half the price or even less (€40m, per the aforementioned source).

A potentially shrewd piece of business, yes, but also an alternative superior—even if only marginally—to Osimhen in nearly every regard.