It would be safe to say that Wilfred Bony’s career at The Etihad didn’t go as expected. The Ivorian has made only 36 appearances for City in his two years at the club out of which 21 were as a substitute. Bony was a revelation at Swansea when he came to the Premier League from the Eredivisie. The Ivorian was one of the most prolific strikers in England as he terrorized defences with his exceptional aerial ability, physicality and smart finishing. Having scored an astonishing 53 goals in just 73 appearances for the Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem, Bony never looked like he was having any difficulties of adapting to the style of play in the Premier League as he banged in 35 goals for Swansea City in 70 appearances. The club’s record transfer fee of £12m looked like a bargain due to his exploits at the Liberty.
The striker who scored 35 goals for Swansea in 70 matches endured his worst ever rough patch in his new club and could only find the net only 10 times in 18 months. Playing second fiddle to Sergio Aguero and not being able to integrate fully into the tactical setup of Manuel Pellegrini due to his lack of pace, Bony’s struggle were hard to experience especially since he was such a fearsome striker with a fantastic scoring record.
Statistics showed that Bony experienced a dip in almost all the aspects of his gameplay including his shots per game, conversion rate, shot accuracy and strikingly in his aerial duels won per game category. City never utilized the strengths of the Ivorian striker and when he played the Citizens failed to whip in crosses from the byline and invite the striker to go and contest it in the air.
Despite paying £25m for the player, the club also rarely used him and as a result, Bony looked to be under extra pressure to perform whenever he got the chance rather than playing freely which affected his game. Bony needs to play regularly and he is not going to have that at Manchester City.
There were reports of both Galatasaray and West Ham United being interested in the striker and now several media outlets have also reported that Swansea are preparing a bid to bring him back to The Liberty. This for Bony might be exactly what is required. Going back to the club where he made a name for himself in the Premier League would be an ideal one. Not only would he be playing in a known environment, he would also be the focal point of the club attack again. Having the opportunity to play regularly without the fear of getting dropped would benefit his game and eventually he will find his lethal touch in front of goal once again.
