Following the release of CAF's shortlist for the 2024 CAF Men's Player of the Year award, many are perplexed as to the absence of Bayer Leverkusen's Victor Boniface.
It was hardly surprising that Ademola Lookman got named among the nominees for the , and the Atalanta and Nigeria winger — also a Ballon d'Or nominee this year — is generally regarded as the leading favorite for Africa’s top gong.
William Troost-Ekong, his international teammate, also duly earned a nomination, but Boniface was conspicuous by his exclusion.
The 23-year-old striker had a stellar 2023/24 campaign, during which he served as the focal point in attack for a Leverkusen side that stunned perennial domestic champions Bayern Munich to clinch a maiden Bundesliga title, adding the DFB-Pokal for good measure.
To that thrilling and glorious run, Boniface contributed 21 goals and 10 assists, and already has eight goal contributions in the books thus far this season for Leverkusen.
In the period under review, few African players have fared better than he has — so why did he miss out?
Consider at least two reasons.
Boniface missed the AFCON
Nine of the ten men named on CAF's nominee list have at least one thing in common: a presence, albeit with varying degrees of success, at this year's Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The exception is Moroccan Soufiane Rahimi, but even he had a star turn at the Olympics in the summer, where he finished top-scorer with eight goals as the Atlas Lions secured bronze.
Boniface failed to feature at the AFCON, though through no fault of his own. He was invited alright by then Nigeria boss Jose Peseiro, but an injury suffered in pre-tournament camp eventually ruled him out.
In his absence, Nigeria went all the way to the final, which they lost narrowly to hosts Ivory Coast in Abidjan.
It was at that tournament Lookman really started to build his case for the major individual prizes, and it represented an opportunity missed for Boniface who, at the time, had already gathered considerable momentum that he was looking to build on with a big tournament outing for his country.
With CAF always likely to prioritise players who appeared at its flagship competition, the 23-year-old was left at an obvious disadvantage.
Boniface did have his chances to make a mark for Nigeria outside tournament football, but managed just a goal and an assist for the national team he only debuted for in September 2023.
Going largely under the radar in international football, as Boniface has found out, can come at a great cost.
Boniface failed to win the Europa League
Undeniably great as Leverkusen were last term, things could have turned out better still, had Xabi Alonso's charges won the only game they lost all season — to Lookman's Atalanta in the UEFA Europa League final.
That would have seen Die Werkself wrap up an unprecedented unbeaten Treble, a feat that, despite Boniface's AFCON no-show, would have been incredibly tough to look past.
That was not to be, however, as Leverkusen were upset by Atalanta, with Boniface — who only started off the bench on that occasion in Dublin — upstaged by a historic Lookman hat-trick that crystallised the latter's own claim to the African Player of the Year gong.
That said, Boniface would still have reason to feel hard done by — and who could possibly begrudge him?