According to reports, Manchester City’s forgotten forward Wilfried Bony, contrary to everyone’s expectations, has decided to stay at Etihad Stadium and regain his position under Pep Guardiola. The Ivory Coast international has been nearly non-existent in his loan stint at Bet365 Stadium the last term with Mark Hughes handing him only 10 Premier League games.
The Bingerville-born forward who broke onto the scene with some sizzling displays in a Swansea shirt has clearly fizzled out. While it would be clearly impossible to determine if Bony still retains his hunting instinct in front of the goal, but if he cannot impress the Stoke City manager who has had one of the worst seasons of his managerial career and still didn’t choose to play Bony, impressing Guardiola would surely be a long shot.
With Stoke City already getting in Saido Berahino last winter from West Bromwich Albion, Bony’s chances with the Potters are all but finished. And as far as Manchester City are concerned, the 28-year-old has never been the kind of striker who could topple over the likes of Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus or even Bernardo Silva for the starting place.
Bony is more known for his supreme strength and holding abilities in pressure situations rather than superior techniques and sublime dribbling skills. And given the grand plan Guardiola has been etching out for the Sky Blues next season, Bony’s inclusion is a huge doubt. The only place where Bony could come in helpful would be the work rate.
The likes of Aguero and Silva are not known to work incessantly in the attacking third and force opponents to make mistakes, but Bony can excel in that with his unparalleled stamina. Although Guardiola has hardly any trust in his abilities and if previous reports are to believed, have already put him up for sale.
City had bought him from Swansea City back in 2015 for a whopping £28million, and the once cherished and perfect for Premier League striker can be sold for as little as £15million plus add-ons by City. His former club Swansea City are again willing to have him back as Paul Clement is in danger of losing Fernando Llorente this summer.
Bony has been a classic example of how overrated Premier League strikers have always been. He had scored 35 goals in 70 games for the Swans over a span of two seasons when he came to Etihad. And with them, he has managed just 11 goals in 46 games. He had explained his current situation as ‘crazy’ last season, and he sounds about right.
