Boniface overtakes Bellingham, tops Europe U-23 goal contribution

After collecting the 2023 Golden Boy Award for Europe’s best U-21 player earlier this month, Real Madrid superstar, Jude Bellingham, was considered by many as the best player of this generation but Victor Boniface’s numbers show that the Nigerian is better than the England striker, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Bellingham has had a flying start to life at the Bernabeu, scoring 17 goals and registering five assists in 20 games after joining from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

On Sunday, the 20-year-old continued his scoring form as Real Madrid completed one of its most accomplished performances of the season to thrash Villarreal 4-1 and provisionally return to the top of the Spanish La Liga table.

While Bellingham’s goal contributions look unbeatable, Boniface’s figure surpasses that of the Madrid’s No. 5.



Against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday, the Super Eagles striker registered a goal and an assist as Bayer Leverkusen mauled their opponents 3-0, sending the league leaders four points clear.

His Sunday’s performance means the Nigerian, who joined the Bundesliga outfit in the summer, is better than the former Dortmund star.

Boniface has 23 goal contributions (15 goals and eight assists) in 22 appearances.



Indeed, the Leverkusen man has appeared in more games than the Golden Boy winner but the Eagles striker has played fewer minutes compared to the Madrid player.

While Bellingham has played a total of 1,732 minutes, Boniface has played 43 minutes lesser having played a total of 1,689 minutes across the 22 games.

Both players have proven to be prolific in front of goals but the Nigerian again boasts a better goal return per minute.

Boniface is more clinical than Bellingham as his stats show that he scored a goal every nine minutes in the Bundesliga compared to the English forward who scores a goal every 13 minutes in La Liga.

Leverkusen were close to suffering their first defeat of the season against VfB Stuttgart on December 10 but the Ondo-born forward proved how important he is to the team as he scored a crucial goal to salvage a point for the Bundesliga league leaders.

Across Europe, Xabi Alonso’s side are the only unbeaten team across all competitions having won 21 and drawn three of 24 matches in all competitions.

Boniface’s 23-goal contributions mean he’s at the top of the ladder among U-23 players from Europe’s top five leagues.