Wilfried Bony joins Stoke City from Manchester City on season loan
Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony has joined Stoke City on a season-long loan deal.
Bony, 27, signed for City for £28 million in January 2015 and has since scored six Premier League goals in 36 appearances.
The Ivory Coast international has been deemed surplus requirements by new City coach Pep Guardiola and will spend 2016-17 out on loan at Mark Hughes’ Stoke.
BREAKING | #SCFC delighted to announce the season-long loan signing of @wilfriedbony from @ManCity pic.twitter.com/0I0FO81UDd
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) August 31, 2016
The Ivory Coast international, down the striking pecking order at the Etihad, tweeted: “It’s a new day & I look forward to a new exciting challenge.”
Hughes told the club website: “Bringing Wilfried in was a no-brainer for us to be perfectly honest, because he knows the Premier League and has scored plenty of goals at this level.
“He has power, speed and very good physical attributes which will undoubtedly help us, and his technical and finishing skills are outstanding too.
“Eighteen months ago he was being bought for a hugely significant amount of money, so we know that we are bringing in a top quality striker.”
“Everybody is aware of Wilfried and what he is capable of, and it was no surprise that one of the bigger clubs came in for him on the back of his performances for Swansea – the only surprise has been that he didn’t enjoy the success with Manchester City that we all thought he would.”
