Bayer’s loan striker Borja Iglesias can imagine staying in Leverkusen. But whether the Werkself will decide to do so seems questionable, at least at the moment.
Still no goal in seven competitive appearances for Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Borja Iglesias IMAGO/Chai vd Laage
It just wouldn’t work. In the second leg of the Europa League round of 16 against Qarabag Agdam, Borja Iglesias scored several times in the early stages. But initially the attacker missed with his head, then he shot clearly over the crossbar from a good position and a little later aimed straight at keeper Andrey Lunev.
The fact that that attempt almost ended up in the net was solely due to the ex-Leverkusen player, who has been guarding the Azerbaijani goal since the summer of 2023 and was unable to properly hold on to the left-footed shot fired from a half-right position. The ball slipped through his fingers but rolled just past the right post. Missed the chance.
The following story is well known: After around an hour, Patrik Schick came onto the field for Borja Iglesias, scored first to make it 2-2, then to make it 3-2 – and became the celebrated winning goal scorer. While the Czech is on the rise with four goals in four games, the Spaniard is still going through a dry spell.
Borja Iglesias can imagine staying in Leverkusen
The loan player from Real Betis Sevilla has not yet developed into an important factor. When he is on the pitch, he plays his part in the development of the game, binds opponents and at least has some good scenes with and without the ball – but in the past few weeks he has had no luck in front of the goal when a final action has opened up.
At Bayer, they are of course counting on the striker to show his goalscoring ability as soon as possible. Although Victor Boniface is expected to return soon, in this case the chances of Borja Iglesias, who has only been called up sporadically so far, would decrease rather than increase – but having more of an accurate attacker in the squad certainly can’t do any harm in the season finale.
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What follows? In an interview with the Brand The wall player recently let it be known that he could imagine a future in Leverkusen. “I’m very happy in Germany and at Bayer Leverkusen,” he said. “I hope that the goals will come and we will all pull together.” However, it currently seems doubtful that his wish for the future will become reality.
Bayer would be overstaffed with Borja Iglesias in 2024/25
The loan deal is only limited until the end of this season. The Werkself do have a purchase option for the two-time Spanish international, who is tied to Seville until 2026 – the transfer fee is eight million euros. At this point in time, however, it would be surprising if Bayer actually wanted to invest this amount for the 31-year-old.
In addition, from the coming season there will already be three strikers with Boniface, Schick and Sardar Azmoun, who was signed with high hopes from Zenit St. Petersburg in January 2022 and is currently on loan to AS Roma and will – as of now – return in the summer are in the Leverkusen squad. And with four attackers, the current league table leaders would of course be significantly overmanned.
It was clear from the start: Borja Iglesias, who was signed in the winter after Boniface’s injury, should come on loan. And: He has to achieve great deeds in order to apply for a further commitment. These great deeds have not happened, at least so far. The striker is trying hard, but he can’t get past good approaches yet.
2024-03-22 19:10:39
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