One of Europe's most popular strikers reveals he's been a lifelong Arsenal fan and calls fellow striker Victor Osimhen a 'brother' to him

One of Europe's most promising young strikers has revealed he is a lifelong Arsenal fan and has heaped praise on Napoli star Victor Osimhen, who has also been linked with the London club.

The Gunners have fallen behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race and have fallen to fourth place with a five-point gap between the two sides.

Mikel Arteta's side have not been clinical enough in front of goal this season, scoring just 37 goals. For perspective, Liverpool and Aston Villa in first and second place have scored 43 points, while Man City in third place has scored 45 points.

As the Gunners look for a new striker, Bayer Leverkusen's promising young star has revealed he has been a lifelong fan of the north London club on John Obi Mikel's The Obi One Podcast.

The 23-year-old is widely regarded as one of the most promising strikers in European football. He has scored 16 goals in 23 appearances in all competitions for Germany this season.

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High-flying Leverkusen are unbeaten in the German top flight this season, with Granit Xhaka joining from Arsenal this summer.

And before praising the impact the former Gunners midfielder has had, Boniface revealed: 'For me, from a young age, I have supported Arsenal all my life.'

About the Swiss midfielder, he added: “He has experience, maturity and he is a top professional.”

Xhaka played for the club between 2016 and 2023, making 297 appearances for the Premier League club, while also captaining the side on several occasions.

Last summer he left the club and moved to Bayer Leverkusen, where he would meet the 23-year-old striker.

“We have a young team, but with Granit it feels like we have been playing for a long time because he talks to us and tries to help us,” he added.

Ex-Chelsea star Mikel added that he too had been a fan of the Gunners growing up with the Nigerian, claiming: 'I supported Arsenal because of one person, Nwankwo Kanu.'

'I loved watching Arsenal because of Kanu. The thing is, when a Nigerian player plays, you tend to support your own player. Now when you see the kids coming, everyone has moved to Chelsea, thanks to me, Victor Moses.”

It was reported on Monday that Boniface would withdraw from this month's Africa Cup of Nations after being called up to the competition by Nigeria.

The striker had suffered a groin injury during training which prevented him from playing in the competition, while Boniface wrote on Instagram: ''Good luck guys. I wish you all the best at afcon @ng_supereagles.”

Boniface has earned four caps for Nigeria but his absence from AFCON will be a huge blow for the Super Eagles.

Despite this, the Nigerian frontline will be led by Arsenal target Osimhen. Arteta's side have been linked with Osimhen for some time and were dealt a blow in their bid to sign the £112million striker after it was reported that he had 'signed a new contract to stay in Serie A until 2026 to stay'. .

Yet Boniface spoke out about the relationship he has with Osimhen, claiming the striker, who has scored eight goals in 18 games in all competitions this season, is 'like a brother' to him.

“We are good friends and speak to each other regularly,” Boniface said The Obi One Podcast.

'I respect Victor enormously and I see him as a brother, he is a top man. It all depends on the coach. The fans keep saying that hopefully Nigeria will play against Victor and Boniface, but we just want to represent our country. If it is a great country like Nigeria, you have to fight for the country, that is the most important thing.

'Victor doesn't care who he plays with, and I don't care who I play with. I just want to help my team, just like Victor. But if we can play together, it would be great for us.”

Leverkusen have now climbed to the top of the Bunesliga this season, with Xabi Alonso's side shining in the league so far this season.

And Boniface praised the Spanish manager, saying: 'What a great coach.'

'Everyone knew him as a great player, he (Alonso) was fantastic and won everything in football. He really helped me a lot and tried to advise me.

“He gave me the example of (Didier) Drogba and said he was big and strong, and he wants the same from me.”

Alonso joined the football club in October 2022, having previously held the position of manager at Real Sociedad.

Boniface added: “He tried to put that kind of mentality in my head because I'm the type of guy that just wants to play a good game. Even if I don't score, it doesn't matter as long as we win. But he wants to try to change that mentality so that I can become a fighter. He is a top coach, top coach.

'He's always calm. I think I've only seen him angry once. It was against Dortmund and we were losing in the first half. We came back to the locker room and he was screaming.”

“The way he wants us to play is not just about individuals,” Boniface explains. 'That's why with a player like Alex Grimaldo you sometimes see him in midfield and sometimes on the wing. Even if we don't play our position, he wants us to help the team. We have to put the team first.

'After my first three games at Leverkusen I said to Jeremy (Frimpong): 'Bro, I don't even know what formation we're playing in, because sometimes I see you as a right-back, sometimes I see you as a wing-back. .'

'But as long as we keep the ball and don't lose it too easily, we have a player like Granit in the engine room with whom we can communicate because he has been playing for a long time and we are the young players. guys, he's trying to help.

“The rest of us are just trying to enjoy the moment. He always tells us to always keep the ball. Even in training we do a lot of ball possession exercises, so that we can get to know each other better during the match.'