After acquiring the services of Cote d’Ivoire striker Wilfried Bony, Swansea City have sent a strong signal of intent to fellow Premier League outfits
After a mini transfer saga that was on the verge of prolonging, Swansea City finally got their man when they agreed to a 15 million euros fee with Vitesse Arnhem for their star striker, Wilfried Bony. The Ivorian international was very keen on making the next move in his career after shipping goals for fun in the Dutch Eredivisie last season.
The arrival of a player who has scored goals at such an alarming rate means that Swansea City indeed have got the player who can share the goalscoring burden with the excellent Michu from next season onwards.
Swansea manager, Michael Laudrup was very keen on having the player at the Liberty Stadium and after completing the signing, club supremo, Hue Jenkins should be heaving a sigh of relief due to the fact that Laudrup was initially visibly unhappy at the club’s failure to release funds for his preferred targets in the beginning of the transfer window.
Now, the Swans can definitely look upon another player who has the potential to help the Welsh side take yet another major step towards becoming a true highflyer in English topflight.
Although Bony’s record speaks for itself, many people consider him as an all-out goal poacher. One of the best qualities of the player is that he has blistering acceleration which makes him an excellent target man for the midfielders. Moreover, the player’s ability to hold-up the ball would be something that the club sorely needs.
The Ivorian has good ball skills but the jury will definitely be out on him in his first season largely due to the fact that he arrives in the Premier League on the back of a great season in Netherlands where defenders grant superior players more time on the ball. In short, the time that he usually got on the ball in the Eredivisie, would be halved in England.
However, the player’s strongest asset is probably his awareness. Exceptionally good at finding spaces in the defence, Bony would definitely be relying on this attribute on a regular basis in England.
Bony is a complete striker in the sense that he has already shown that he can score all kinds of goals, meaning that he has every move a striker should have in his repertoire. At the age of 24, Bony has still a lot to learn and there will always be room for improvement.
After scoring more than 30 goals last season, expectation would be pretty high but it would be way too optimistic to expect the player hit the ground running instantly.
Michu-Bony partnership
During his time at Vitesse, Bony was lucky enough to have a player like Marco van Ginkel to provide him with the passes he needed to ship in goals. At Swansea, the Ivorian will have a more aggressive and attack-minded midfielder in Michu who will be operating behind him and other creative talents.
At first sight, a Michu-Bony partnership has goals written all over it and given Michu’s tendency to make runs from deep into the penalty area, it would be quite a lethal pairing.
Next season, Swansea will be playing in the Europa League and perhaps, Bony could be the coup that the Swans have just made ahead of their first ever European journey.
The prospect of seeing Bony taking the league by storm is a delightful one for the club’s fans who would understandably be waiting anxiously for the next season to begin. However, caution must be thrown to the winds because in recent times, many players with strong goalscoring reputations in Netherlands, have failed to perform on the big stage.
For every Luis Suarez, there is an Alphonso Alves or a Bas Dost or a Mateja Kezman and Swansea fans would be hoping that this is not the case with their record signing.
The arrival of a player who has scored goals at such an alarming rate means that Swansea City indeed have got the player who can share the goalscoring burden with the excellent Michu from next season onwards.
Swansea manager, Michael Laudrup was very keen on having the player at the Liberty Stadium and after completing the signing, club supremo, Hue Jenkins should be heaving a sigh of relief due to the fact that Laudrup was initially visibly unhappy at the club’s failure to release funds for his preferred targets in the beginning of the transfer window.
Now, the Swans can definitely look upon another player who has the potential to help the Welsh side take yet another major step towards becoming a true highflyer in English topflight.
Although Bony’s record speaks for itself, many people consider him as an all-out goal poacher. One of the best qualities of the player is that he has blistering acceleration which makes him an excellent target man for the midfielders. Moreover, the player’s ability to hold-up the ball would be something that the club sorely needs.
The Ivorian has good ball skills but the jury will definitely be out on him in his first season largely due to the fact that he arrives in the Premier League on the back of a great season in Netherlands where defenders grant superior players more time on the ball. In short, the time that he usually got on the ball in the Eredivisie, would be halved in England.
However, the player’s strongest asset is probably his awareness. Exceptionally good at finding spaces in the defence, Bony would definitely be relying on this attribute on a regular basis in England.
Bony is a complete striker in the sense that he has already shown that he can score all kinds of goals, meaning that he has every move a striker should have in his repertoire. At the age of 24, Bony has still a lot to learn and there will always be room for improvement.
After scoring more than 30 goals last season, expectation would be pretty high but it would be way too optimistic to expect the player hit the ground running instantly.
Michu-Bony partnership
During his time at Vitesse, Bony was lucky enough to have a player like Marco van Ginkel to provide him with the passes he needed to ship in goals. At Swansea, the Ivorian will have a more aggressive and attack-minded midfielder in Michu who will be operating behind him and other creative talents.
At first sight, a Michu-Bony partnership has goals written all over it and given Michu’s tendency to make runs from deep into the penalty area, it would be quite a lethal pairing.
Next season, Swansea will be playing in the Europa League and perhaps, Bony could be the coup that the Swans have just made ahead of their first ever European journey.
The prospect of seeing Bony taking the league by storm is a delightful one for the club’s fans who would understandably be waiting anxiously for the next season to begin. However, caution must be thrown to the winds because in recent times, many players with strong goalscoring reputations in Netherlands, have failed to perform on the big stage.
For every Luis Suarez, there is an Alphonso Alves or a Bas Dost or a Mateja Kezman and Swansea fans would be hoping that this is not the case with their record signing.
