Following the loss of Victor Boniface, Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso only has one real center forward in the squad until the beginning of April: Patrik Schick. Managing director Simon Rolfes would like to make personnel improvements, but not necessarily on the nine
It was a shock. The fact that Victor Boniface had to undergo surgery on his adductor muscle tendon injury, which he suffered while preparing for the Africa Cup (13.1. to 11.2.) with the Nigerian national team, and will be out of action until the beginning of April is a huge blow to the league leaders’ ambitions.
But how will the club react to the fact that the team’s top scorer will be unavailable for so long? “He would have been out for the first few weeks anyway. So it makes no difference for now,” explains Simon Rolfes matter-of-factly.
But that doesn’t change the fact that the absence hits the player just as hard as the club. “It’s annoying for him and also for us,” says the managing director, “but that’s just the way things are. We’ve had few injuries so far. It can happen.”
But even if Rolfes demonstrates composure and thus also expresses his confidence in the personnel still available, this does not mean that Bayer will not be active on the transfer market in the winter. On the contrary:
“A different perspective” on the transfer market
“It’s clear that we’re monitoring the situation even more closely – including the course of the next few weeks, what’s happening with us and at the Africa Cup – that we’re checking out possibilities,” says Rolfes openly, “but we’re doing it from a slightly different angle.”
Bayer have been looking for a versatile attacking player since late fall, long before Boniface’s injury. But now this personnel matter is more urgent. However, the new player must fit into the overall structure of the squad. “It has to be a sensible and intelligent solution for the team,” emphasizes Rolfes, who rules out an actionist transfer just to prove to the outside world that he has done something.
Rolfes rejects emergency solution
There should not be an emergency solution, but Bayer would like to react. A pure center forward, of which they would then have three and thus one too many after Boniface’s return, is unlikely. Rolfes is “not necessarily looking for the nine”, referring to options within the squad. “Amine Adli has also played well there, albeit with different characteristics,” explains the 41-year-old, “Adam Hlozek also played a good test match against Venice and has improved over the past few months.”
However, the Czech is not an attacker who likes to play with his back to goal and is much stronger when he plays behind or around a central striker. The same applies to Adli. And neither of them are at the level of Boniface – especially not as center forwards. Nevertheless, they could be part of the solution, as Rolfes suggests. “You can also play with a two-man forward and one behind,” explains the manager.
It is undisputed that there is a need in the goalscoring department. Without another goal-scoring attacking force, Bayer’s title chances would be diminished in any case. Because otherwise only Patrik Schick would remain as a goalscorer, who cannot be scheduled for three 90-minute games a week due to his injury history and after a one-year break in the English weeks. However, a one-to-one replacement, who would probably cost 40 million euros or more, is not affordable. At best, immediate help is probably only feasible via a favorable exit clause or loan. Rolfes will have to find a creative solution
