“I am sure that he can be a very important factor for our group this season,” said Bremen coach Horst Steffen. Leverkusen’s sports director Simon Rolfes referred to the competitive situation for Boniface at Bayer. “That’s why it was in Victors and in our interest to get a good solution here,” said Rolfes: “Hopefully Werder can restart at the top level and demonstrate his class.”
Boniface had suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in 2019 and 2020, and in early 2024 he failed for a long time due to an adductor injury. In 2025 he was only in four out of 16 Bundesliga games in the starting eleven. His contract in Leverkusen runs until 2028. The striker had little chance of a regular place behind striker Patrik Schick.
In January, Boniface had already agreed on a transfer with AL-NASSR from Saudi Arabia that was surprisingly bursting. As a result, Boniface was no longer able to build on his achievements from the double season and the first half of the past season.
The former German national team captain İlkay Gündoğan is about to switch to Galatasaray Istanbul. As several media report, the Turkish football champion has already agreed with Manchester City. Gündoğan is to sign a two -year contract in Istanbul. Galatasaray did not have the great pressure on Monday, the transfer window in Turkey only closes on September 12th.
Gündoğan returned from FC Barcelona to Man City in 2024, but he was no longer able to build on his seven successful years in the team of Pep Guardiola. So the 34-year-old was considered a candidate for sales this summer.
In Istanbul he would also meet his former national team colleague Leroy Sané. The striker had changed from FC Bayern to the Bosphorus in summer.
Second division FC Schalke 04 hired the attacker Christian Gomis shortly before the transfer period. The 25-year-old comes from FC Winterthur from Switzerland and receives a contract with the royal blue until 2029.
