Nigeria’s Victor Boniface’s deal to join Cristiano Ronaldo and one-time CAF Player of the Year Sadio Mane at Al Nassr has collapsed after the Saudi Pro League giants settled instead for Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran of Colombia.
The 24-year-old Nigerian Super Eagles striker was close to completing a deal to join the Faris Najd, as an agreement on a €60 million (N23 billion) transfer fee with Bayer Leverkusen was reached and personal terms sorted.
However, Al Nassr did not take the final step in securing the deal, as they decided to commit to another player.
Finally, the club reached an agreement on a transfer fee worth €77 million with the Colombian.
The club was offering to pay him a staggering €15 million a year, some seven times what he earned at the German champions and would have made him the highest paid Nigerian football star in history.
Leverkusen would have made a handsome profit from this sale as they had agreed a transfer fee of €60 million Euros with the Saudis, after they paid Belgian club Union St. Gilloise about €20 million for the player in the summer of 2023.
The 24-year-old Nigerian had already passed his medicals and was set for an annual windfall of €15 million in wages.
