Alonso: Boniface has a lot of qualities that can make him as strong as Drogba

Bayer Leverkusen coach, Xabi Alonso says he sees the potential for a top attacker Victor Boniface.

The Nigerian has scored five times in eight games across all competitions for the reigning German Bundesliga champion and Alonso is convinced the 23-year-old has a lot of qualities that can make him as strong as Chelsea and Ivory Coast legend, Didier Drogba.

‘He’s so powerful and can cause so many problems for the opponent. He’s good on the ball, good in tight spaces, he likes to play in the penalty area,’ said Alonso who thinks Boniface still has to take a few steps to get to the level of the former world-class striker.

‘Sometimes he has to attack even more aggressively in the box, like with his offside goal. But this is a process. We have to help him, push him. Sometimes he has to make better decisions when the spaces are open on the outside,’ Alonso was quoted as saying by Kicker.de

Boniface has been accused of showboating and occasional shenanigans but former Arsenal player who is now with Bayer Leverkusen, Granit Xhaka says the team is used to the Nigerian’s style and that as long as he continues to deliver the goals, he can be forgiven.

‘The boy enjoys football, wants to enjoy every moment on the pitch and he also gets this freedom from us. Of course, we also see how much he works, also defensively. And he scores the decisive goals. He can do things like that if he scores the goals up front and brings us the next three points,’ Xhaka told Kicker.