Two of Werder Bremen’s former strikers have backed Super Eagles striker Victor Boniface to break his goalless run at the club, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 24-year-old joined Horst Steffen’s side on a season-long loan deal from Bayer 04 Leverkusen but has yet to score in nine games.
Former Chelsea and Bayern forward Claudio Pizarro, alongside Martin Harnik, have urged the club to give the Nigerian more freedom on the pitch to get him back to his best.
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Pizarro, Harnik back Boniface for success
Harnick started his career with Werder Bremen before going on to play for Fortuna Düsseldorf, VfB Stuttgart, Hannover 96 and Hamburger SV.
In a recent interview with DeichStube, the 38-year-old likened Boniface to former Germany striker Max Kruse.
“Of course, he’s a special guy,” the former Austrian international said.
“He’s a character to me that you have to let do. Similar to Max Kruse, he needs as much freedom as possible.
“If you let him off the leash, I believe that he is a really creative player with a lot of joy to play and will also help the team.”
Claudio Pizarro joined Werder in 1999, but had already scored five goals in his first nine games.
The Peruvian went on to make history with Die Grün-Weißen, scoring 153 goals and providing 53 assists in 320 games across all competitions.
The 47-year-old urged Boniface to keep working to put his quality on display again despite his record of zero goals in nine games.
“He’s in a difficult phase at the moment, but he just has to keep working to show his quality again.
“Hopefully, he’ll start at Werder; that would be very important for both sides. When he scores, then hopefully a lot of goals will come,” the six-time Bundesliga winner concluded.
At the Weser Stadium, Boniface has had his share of problems as well. Weight gain, dieting concerns, pressure from the coach, and the loss of his goalscoring touch have seen pressure mount on the 2024 Bundesliga Rookie of the Year.
