Rolfes on Kofane's reduced minutes: “Not everything is going as smoothly as it did"

Having been limited to a mere 140 minutes of playing time in his last five games, Cristiano Kofane has struggled to feature for Bayer Leverkusen lately

Speaking to Kicker.de, Leverkusen's managing director of sport Simon Rolfes explained why the Cameroonian has struggled to work his way into Kasper Hjulmand's plans.

“He’s made huge strides in recent months. He’s still very young, came from the Spanish second division, and had to adjust to the significantly higher level.

"And while we had a break around Christmas, Christian continued playing. You can’t forget all that. Now the young striker is in ‘a phase of consolidation.’

“Not everything is going as smoothly as it did at times in the first half of the season. But he’s ambitious, he’s contributing well, so he’ll take the next step," Rolfes explained.

So far this campaign since joining from Albaceté last summer, the 19-year-old has played 17 games in the Bundesliga while chipping in with 3 goals and 2 assists.