Moving Target – Wilfried Bony

Manchester City bolstered their forward options last week by snapping up Wilfried Bony from Swansea City. Arriving for a reported fee of £28m, the 26-year-old has signed a four-and-a-half year contract for the champions and will be available for selection once his Africa Cup of Nations commitments with Ivory Coast come to an end.

Manuel Pellegrini took time out to discuss his swoop with the club’s official website and cited Bony’s excellent record in the Premier League as one of the key reasons for his acquisition:

“He is very difficult to mark because he is so strong. He is an intelligent footballer who has skill and power. His goals record has been excellent since he came to England. He adapted very quickly to the game here and I think he will settle in at City quickly. He will be a very good addition to our squad. We now have four top-class strikers and I am looking forward to seeing them work together.”

The History

Bony’s career got underway in 2006 with Ivory Coast outfit Issia Wazi. Having failed a trial at Liverpool a year later, the target man made his way to Czech club Sparta Prague, where he racked up 22 goals and five assists in 59 league matches, in addition to scoring 11 times in 20 European matches.

The Ivorian was on his travels midway through the 2010/11 season after being snapped up by Vitesse Arnhem. Bony netted just three times in seven appearances over the first few months but, after establishing himself as a first-team regular the following year, he bagged 17 goals and eight assists from 32 league and play-off matches and followed that up with an eye-catching 31 goals and eight assists from 30 league matches in 2012/13.

Bony’s exploits in the Eredivisie persuaded Swansea to shell out a club record £12m fee for his services in July 2013 and he wasted little time in settling at the Liberty. The Ivorian bagged 26 goals across all competitions for the Welsh club last year, producing 17 goals and four assists in the Premier League, before going on to deliver nine strikes and a pair of assists in 20 top-flight appearances this time around. On the international stage, the 26-year-old has also appeared 32 times for the Ivory Coast and found the net on 11 occasions.

The Prospects

As we’ve seen so often in the past, a move to the Etihad can sound the death knell for many a player’s Fantasy fortunes and in spite of his goal-getting abilities, the jury is out on whether Bony’s career at City will prove worthy of our consideration.

At Swansea, he was the first-choice forward in a lone striker system, providing the power, movement and guile to lead the line with devastating effect – no other player matched Bony’s 20 goals over the 2014 calendar year. In all likelihood, City’s embarrassment of riches up front should allow Pellegrini to roll out his preferred 4-2-2-2 on a regular basis but with Sergio Aguero an automatic pick, Bony is set to battle it out with Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic for pitch time alongside the Argentine.

With a starting role looking far from certain, the Ivorian’s prospects are also dented by a likely lack of spot-kicks. Five of Bony’s league goals for the Swans were converted penalties but, again, you’d expect Aguero to remain at the top of the pecking order, whilst Yaya Toure could hold onto his role as back-up option, leaving his compatriot out of the running.

What may fall in Bony’s favour, though, is his ability to steer clear of injury. On too many occasions over the past couple of years, City have had at least one forward sidelined through one problem or the other – with all three unavailable last month, Pellegrini was forced into adopting a false nine system to cope. Given that Jovetic and Dzeko have managed just over 1,300 minutes between them, there’s hope that Bony could benefit if he can steer clear of the treatment room – City have produced the highest number of attempts on goal this season and, when on the pitch, there’s no doubt he’ll be supplied with chances aplenty.

With doubts over his minutes, though, it’s a case of “wait and see” with this one. Depending on his nation’s progress in the Africa Cup of Nations, Bony may not be back on domestic duties until Gameweek 26, allowing us to build our Wildcard squads and assess the Etihad situation at a later date. Providing Aguero can keep fit, though, it’s difficult to see how the new boy will surpass the Argentine as our favoured City striker of choice in spite of a far more budget-friendly price tag.

From a Swansea perspective, Bony’s move currently puts the 6.5-priced Bafetimbi Gomis in the driving seat as the lone striker. With one goal to his name, though, the Frenchman has failed to replicate his predecessor’s clinical strike rate, whilst his weekend television interview – hinting at broken promises from the Swans hierarchy – hardly suggests all is well. It may well be that Garry Monk turns to loan signing Nelson Oliveira to solve his dilemma up top, then, whilst Gylfi Sigurdsson owners will be hoping the Icelandic international can take over spot-kick duties as a result of the Ivorian’s departure.

Further Reference

Wilfried Bony Wikipedia

Wilfried Bony Transfer Markt

Wilfried Bony You Tube Highlights