Stoke have been keen to add a striker to their squad in this transfer window, and on Wednesday confirmed the capture of Man City forward Wilfried Bony on a season-long loan deal.
The 27-year-old will provide Mark Hughes with a proven top-flight scorer in attack, and the Potters boss was quick to heap praise on the Ivory Coast international:
“Bringing Wilfried in was a no-brainer for us to be perfectly honest, because he knows the Premier League and has scored plenty of goals at this level. He has power, speed and very good physical attributes which will undoubtedly help us, and his technical and finishing skills are outstanding too. Eighteen months ago he was being bought for a hugely significant amount of money, so we know that we are bringing in a top quality striker.”
Immediately after signing up with Stoke, Bony was handed a debut in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Birmingham on Wednesday afternoon and the new boy is raring to go ahead of the Gameweek 4 encounter against Spurs.
“There are lot of technical and very intelligent players here at the club, so it was easy for me to choose this team. I have already had some minutes on the pitch with Bojan already, in the training match today, and I had a good feeling about that instantly. Hopefully I can add to the talent that is already here and together we can help make this a really successful season. I am feeling good, I feel fit and can’t wait to make my first appearance for Stoke City in the Premier League.”
The History
Bony’s footballing journey got underway at the Cyrille Domoraud Academy in his native Ivory Coast, before beginning his professional career at Issia Wazi in his homeland.
He then joined Czech side Sparta Prague on loan in October 2007, and scored two goals in 14 matches for the reserve side. They saw enough in Bony to sign him on a permanent basis in the summer of 2008, and the striker enjoyed a successful two-and-a-half year stint at the club, scoring 33 times and adding five assists in 79 matches across all competitions.
Bony’s career really took off when he joined Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem in January 2011. The Ivorian registered 58 goals and 18 assists in 77 matches in all competitions, establishing himself as of one the leading strikers in the Eredivisie.
Those performances persuaded Swansea to shell out a club-record transfer fee of £12 million to snap him up in July 2013. In his first season with the Welsh outfit, Bony scored 17 goals and claimed four assists in 34 league outings, while he started the 2014/15 campaign with a bang, bagging nine strikes and two assists in 20 Premier League matches, before moving to Man City in January 2015 in a deal worth up to £28 million.
The Ivorian struggled to establish himself as a regular starter under Manuel Pellegrini and his spell at the Etihad was undoubtedly disappointing, yielding just six goals and four assists from 36 league appearances.
Bony made his international debut for Ivory Coast against Burundi in October 2010, and has scored 13 goals and notched four assists in 44 appearances for his country.
The Prospects
While Bony’s time at City has been something off a write-off, his record at Swansea indicates an ability to thrive when given a run of matches as the focal point for a mid-table side.
Hughes has handed starts to Mame Biram Diouf and Peter Crouch in the lone striker role in his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation so far this season, while he also has Bojan and Jon Walters at his disposal.
None of those players have been able to make the position their own over the last 12 months, though, and, as a result, the Potters managed to notch just 41 goals last term, making them the sixth lowest scorers in the top flight.
Looking at the underlying statistics of Bony compared to those of Diouf and Crouch last season, the Ivory Coast international led the way with a goal attempt every 21.8 minutes, far superior to Diouf (44.3) and Crouch (72.7).
He was also the most impressive in regard to creativity, averaging a key pass every 100.5 minutes, better than Crouch (127.3) and Diouf (137.3).
While it must be remembered those numbers were posted playing for a far more potent Man City side, he registered similar statistics during his one full season for Swansea in the 2013/14 campaign, averaging a shot every 24 minutes, and producing a key pass every 103.8 minutes, numbers still far more impressive than any of Stoke’s forwards last term.
Bony could certainly be the player to help provide that extra cutting edge the Potters have lacked in recent years, then, and, valued at 7.3 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), offers us another appealing mid-price pick.
The likes of Crystal Palace pair Christian Benteke and Loic Remy, along with West Ham’s Simone Zaza, have all come onto our radars over the past week following their moves, so we now look to have a plethora of options for our three-man frontlines.
Bony’s claims for serious consideration are strong given Stoke’s upcoming schedule from Gameweek 5 onwards (cpl, WBA, mun, SUN, hul, SWA), which is very favourable.
The one potential concern is that Bony has had little pitch time for City during pre-season and hasn’t featured in competitive action. While the Ivorian’s physical attributes are among his major strengths, he does need a number of matches to find his match sharpness, as seen during his time with Swansea, when he failed to score in five of his first six appearances in 2013/14, and took seven league matches to open his account the following season.
Bony does enjoy slowing down the pace of matches, with his ability to keep hold of possession and fend off defenders one of his strongest assets. He also possesses a powerful shot, although accuracy can sometimes be an issue for the 27-year-old.
With the forward also strong in the air, there are plenty of different ways he can put the ball in the back of the net, including from the penalty spot – he netted all five of his spot-kicks for the Swans.
Although Bojan scored a penalty against City in Gameweek 2, the Spaniard doesn’t appear guaranteed of a starting berth under Hughes, so should Bony be able to claim spot-kick duties, his appeal would certainly grow even more.
This loan move appears an ideal opportunity for Bony to play regular first-team football once again then, and surrounded by creative players such as Marko Arnautovic, Bojan and Xherdan Shaqiri, there’s a real hope that – once settled and up to full match sharpness – he could replicate his prolific Swansea performances.
