Ivory Coast’s Goal Scoring Threat
Personal information
Full name: Wilfried Guemiand Bony
Date of birth: 10 December 1988
Age: 26
Place of birth: Bingerville, Côte d’Ivoire
Height: 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position: Striker
Club information
Current team: Swansea City
Number: 10
Youth career
Cyrille Domoraud Academy
Senior career
2006–2008: Issia Wazi
2007–2008 → Sparta Prague B (loan) 14 Appearance, 2 goals
2008–2011: Sparta Prague 75 Appearance, 30 goals
2011–2013: Vitesse 73 Appearance, 53 goals
2013– Swansea City 70 Appearance, 34 goals
National team
2010– Côte d’Ivoire 32 Appearance, 11 goals
It was hardly as if a great secret was being revealed. Wilfried Bony’s 30 million pound deal has been just about the only show in town in January’s transfer window. He will wear sky blue for the next four and a half years and will give the Premier League champion another option up front when he returns from national duty at the African Nations Cup.
Bony became Swansea’s record signing when they paid 12 million pounds for him in 2013 and his sale, especially at 30 million pounds, would smash the club record for an outgoing player, currently held by Joe Allen, who commanded a 15 million-pound fee when he joined Liverpool in 2012. The 26-year-old striker spoke for the first time about the possibility of signing for City as he prepared to fly to Abu Dhabi to join up with the Ivory Coast squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea. “It’s good to hear [City are interested]. Every player wants to play in the Champions League. The discussions are going on, we don’t know what’s happened, now I just focus on the national team.”
It is easy to see why the 26-year-old is interesting the Premier League’s top sides, looking at his record since joining the Welsh club in a club-record move from Vitesse Arnhem. Bony was Swansea’s top-scorer last season – scoring 25 goals in 48 appearances. He also impressed during Ivory Coast’s World Cup campaign, scoring the African side’s first goal as they came back to beat Japan 2-1 in their Group C opener in Brazil and grabbing another against Greece in their 2-1 loss. Following the World Cup there was reported interest from Liverpool and Tottenham. In June his agent said that any bid for Bony would need to be around £20m to tempt Swansea to sell his client and that he would only leave the Swans for a top-six club. Bony has since signed a new contract and any figure is likely to be beyond that now. All nine of Bony’s Premier League goals this season have come in his last 14 matches. Swansea manager Garry Monk says it will take an “astronomical” fee to prise their record signing away from the Liberty Stadium in the January transfer window. Bony, will spend at least three weeks with Ivory Coast on Africa Cup of Nations duty in Equatorial Guinea and will miss home games against West Ham and Chelsea on 10 January and 17 January. He signed off in style, scoring a late equaliser against Queen’s Park Rangers to earn 10-man Swansea a point at Loftus Road on New Year’s Day.
Prior to Bony’s move to Swansea, he was a scoring sensation in the Eredivisie during the 2012-13 campaign, with the striker’s 31 goals in 30 games not only earning him the top scorer award but also clinching him the Dutch Player of the Year title. Bony started his career in his homeland with Issia Wazi, later moving to the Czech Republic to sign for Sparta Prague, who he helped win their national league title in 2010. His form attracted the attention of Vitesse, who paid just over £3million for his services midway through the 2010-11 season. In his first full season at Vitesse, Bony was top scorer with 12 goals from 28 league games. But it was in the 2012-13 campaign which he was truly prolific, finding the net 36 times from 36 games in all competitions. And he repaid every chunk of his transfer fee in 2013-14, scoring 25 goals in all competitions which earned him the Top Scorer gong at the club’s annual awards night, where he was also named Supporters’ Player of the Year; Players’ Player and Best Newcomer.
Swansea City will get an indication in January of what life would be like without Wilfried Bony when the striker is away with Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations. The club are currently ninth in the Premier League, thanks in part to Bony’s nine goals so far in 2014-15.
Check out Wilfried Bony’s Best Goals For Swansea!