Swansea Transfer News: £12 Million Wilfried Bony Deal Complete

by Joseph Dempsey

BBC. The Ivorian international has put pen to paper on a four-year contract, tying him to the Welsh club until 2017. Bony finished last season as the top goalscorer in the Netherlands, scoring 31 goals in 30 Eredivisie appearances for Vitesse. West Ham also put in an offer for the 24-year-old, but Swansea won the race for his signature with a higher bid. Bony said:

"I've wanted to play in the Premier League for a long time."
The forward has become manager Michael Laudrup's seventh permanent summer signing, following the acquisitions of Jonjo Shelvey from Liverpool, Alejandro Pozuelo and Jose Canas from Real Betis, Jordi Amat from Espanyol, Gregor Zabret from NK Domzale and Alex Gogic from Olympiakos. Midfielder Jonathan de Guzman has also agreed to a second, season-long loan from Spanish outfit Villarreal. The heavy investment in the squad is seen as a show of support by the club's board for Laudrup, who had insisted more recruits were needed over the summer in order to build on the Swans' success last season. In February, Swansea won the Capital One Cup, defeating Liverpool and Chelsea along the way, and secured Europa League football for next season. Bony's arrival is intended to help the squad cope with their increased fixture schedule and to also take some of the burden off Michu, the club's top scorer last season. Bony was named Dutch Footballer of the Year for the 2012/13 season and had a brief loan spell at Liverpool in 2007, but failed to earn a contract.

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Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.