Swansea City are expected to make a double swoop on the transfer deadline day, as Renato Sanches and Wilfried Bony are expected to arrive at the Liberty Stadium on the final day of the transfer window. Paul Clement’s good relationship with Renato Sanches has moved Swansea in pole position to land the Portuguese sensation. While, on the other hand, Wilfried Bony’s move to Swansea is equally important as striker Fernando Llorente is expected to depart for Tottenham Hotspur, who reportedly offered more than Chelsea in the battle to sign the Spanish forward.
Losing Fernando Llorente, who scored 15 goals in his debut season in the Premier League, after joining from Sevilla last summer, will be a huge blow for the Swans. However, fans believe that the club has a very good replacement lined up, in the shape of Wilfried Bony.
Bony, who was an important attacking figure for Swansea not long ago, is expected to return to the Liberty Stadium very soon. His form, after leaving the Swans, hasn’t been particularly impressive. Failing to reach double figures in any of the past two seasons, shows that the Ivorian International has suffered from a lack game-time and also a dip in form.
Injuries also played a key role in Bony’s demise as a top Premier League striker to a benchwarmer at Manchester City. In his first season with the Sky Blues, the striker featured in only 10 games, scoring two goals and providing an assist. In his second season, however, Bony managed to mostly stay away from injuries but suffered horribly from lack of form. In the 26 Premier appearances, Bony scored only four goals and notched up three assists, surely not good enough for a club like Man City, albeit he came as a sub in most of those fixtures.
He was loaned out to Stoke City, the following season, where he deteriorated even more, and the injuries once again started to hit back at the Ivorian International. He ended up featuring in only ten games, scoring two goals, much like a carbon copy of his first season at Manchester City, except he didn’t manage an assist this time around.
However, that’s not to say Wilfried Bony should be taken out from the list of top strikers in the Premier League. During his spell at Swansea, the 28-year-old showed what exactly he is capable of if given the right amount of playtime. He has a very impressive record with the Welsh club, scoring 35 goals in 70 games all competitions. He played 2,471 minutes in his first season at Swansea, that’s more than what he played at Manchester City and Stoke City in his three-year spell, away at the club, which proves just how he has suffered from gametime and injuries.
Wilfried Bony has shown in the past, that he has all the abilities, the Premier League asks for, in order to thrive. He is a cult figure at Swansea and with the fans behind him, we should be optimistic about his move back to the Liberty Stadium and hope that he can replace Fernando Llorente.
