Bundesliga
Victor Boniface earns fifth consecutive Bundesliga Rookie of the Month nomination
By Monsurah Olatunji
Nigeria international Victor Boniface has been nominated for the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for December.
The 23-year-old has now been nominated for the fifth consecutive time after winning the award four times in a row.
Leverkusen are four points clear of record champions, Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga table, with Boniface playing a pivotal role in that.
The Nigerian international has been in fine form for Die Werkself all season with ten goals and seven assists in fifteen league starts.
For December, no player in the Bundesliga has more goal involvement than the Super Eagles star, with three goals and two assists, before heading out for his maiden AFCON tournament with Nigeria.
Unfortunately, he suffered a muscle tendon injury in camp that will now keep him away from both club and country action until April following a successful surgery.
The 1.91m tall striker has been nominated alongside RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons and S.C. Freiburg’s Merlin Röhl.
The Rookie of the Month must be younger than 23 on Matchday 1 of the new season and he cannot have started a Bundesliga match in any previous campaign.
Furthermore, players can have accumulated no more than 450 minutes of action before the start of the current Bundesliga season.
Thereby, youngsters who have only made brief appearances in their careers so far and who have not yet had the chance to showcase their talents, still have the opportunity to be named Rookie of the Month.
The fans are entitled to 40% of the vote while the clubs and selected Bundesliga experts share the remaining percentage equally.
At the end of the campaign, a Rookie of the Season will then be voted for from the selection of monthly winners.
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