Bony admits: ‘I wasn’t fit enough for Man City’

Ian Watson

Wilfried Bony has admitted he “wasn’t fit enough” when he moved to Manchester City, but says he had no regrets over the transfer.

Bony is hoping to make his second Swansea debut against Newcastle on Sunday after completing a £12million transfer from City on deadline day.

And he has promised a legal battle with two former agents will not damage his Swansea return.

The Ivorian has been in the headlines for claiming Gilbert Kacou and Dalibor Lacina – plus companies they ran – received “secret commissions” totalling more than £8m from Swansea between July 2013 and February 2015 when involved in his contract negotiations.

Bony, who has also accused Kacou of “fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation”, this week won his bid for the case to proceed to the High Court.

But Bony insists he is fully focused on being a Swansea success once again, the 28-year-old scoring 34 goals in 70 appearances for the Welsh club before he joined City for £28m in 2015.

“It will not interfere with my football,” Bony said of the dispute with his former agents.

“I just wanted to make clear Swansea is not involved in this. I will just leave that problem with the justice.

“I am just focused on the pitch and for Sunday’s game.”

Bony had a difficult time at Manchester where he struggled for form and fitness after contracting malaria in the summer of 2015.

He started only 15 league games in two-and-a-half years at the Etihad Stadium and was sent out on loan last season, although he scored only twice in 10 league appearances for Stoke.

There were offers from France and Turkey to resurrect his career, but Bony said his mind was made by his two sons who are both Swansea supporters.

“It’s great to be back home. It’s a good feeling to be here,” Bony said. “My boys decided before I did. They heard about the move and said they wanted to go back to Swansea.

“There were other options – Lille and Fenerbache – but I wanted to go where my family said.

“They were both good options, but I didn’t want to go somewhere where my family didn’t want to go.”

Bony believes the City fans never saw the best of him because of illness and injury after his move from Swansea.

But he feels he can recapture the form which saw him become the Premier League’s top goalscorer in the calendar year of 2014.

“I have no regrets in life. The move (to City) was a good experience to move forwards and learn,” Bony said.

“I had some good moments, the team played in the semi-finals of the Champions League and we won the Carling Cup. So it wasn’t all bad.

“But, personally, things didn’t go the right way. I wanted to do better.

“I wasn’t fit enough and my body didn’t react well to that. Mentally and physically you can then hit problems.

“Pep Guardiola (City manager) said to me, ‘You’re a good player but you need to play to get back to the level of before.’

“I want that here because Swansea is where I played my best football – and I can get the special relationship back with the fans.”