Stoke City drew a blank with Man City transfer | OneFootball

Stoke City’s acquisition of Wilfried Bony didn’t go according to plan.

In the summer of 2016, Stoke City were looking to build on the top-half finish they secured under Mark Hughes.

The Potters were entering their ninth straight season of top-flight football and were seemingly a club on the rise, consistently pushing up the table and flirting with European football qualification.

In order to push forward and have an even better campaign, Stoke recruited seven new faces to the Bet365 Stadium, with Joe Allen, Ramadan Sobhi, Harry Souttar, Ryan Sweeney, Bruno Martins Indi and Lee Grant all linking up.

Another player to join was forward Wilfried Bony on a season-long loan from Manchester City.

The Ivorian had earned a big-money move to the Etihad Stadium following his goalscoring exploits in South Wales with Swansea City, but he couldn’t translate it on the blue half of Manchester, leading to the club sanctioning his exit.

Stoke was believed to be a place where Bony could revitalise himself and showcase his talent in front of goal despite his recent struggles, but the frontman would be unable to turn his fortunes around.

Unreliable when leading the line, Bony’s time at Stoke was short-lived and something Stoke fans won’t remember fondly.

Wilfried Bony’s underwhelming Stoke City loan spell

Stoke City ended up paying a £2 million loan fee to secure the services of Wilfried Bony while covering his estimated £100,000 a week salary, with the club putting immense faith in him to find the back of the net on a consistent basis.

But that money was a real waste of precious financial resources, as Bony failed to hit the ground running and was a hindrance more than a help.

The Ivorian was originally given the chance to lead the line in red and white, starting their opening nine league outings from when he signed on the dotted line.

He would score a brace against his former employers Swansea City in matchday 10, but those would be the only goals he would notch in a frustrating spell.

After starting those nine Premier League games, Bony was demoted to a place on the bench and only featured one more time for the club, completing a six-minute cameo against Liverpool.

From matchday 25 onwards, Bony would not be listed in another squad, while he labeled his lack of game time as a “crazy situation” in March 2017, after revealing he had turned down an opportunity to move to China during the winter transfer window.

As reported by the BBC, Bony said: "When you hear everything is fine, and you don't play, it's crazy.

"It is more than difficult. This is something that I want to know why - the coach told me I'm training very well and my attitude is very good. It doesn't make sense. It's painful."

Meanwhile, manager Mark Hughes listed competition from Peter Crouch and Saido Berahino as the reason for Bony not being utilised, with the Welshman viewing him as his third-choice striker.

This left Bony’s reputation in tatters due to him being unable to be an attacking force in that Stoke team. By the end of the campaign, the now 36-year-old played just 10 times for the club, scoring twice.

Wilfried Bony failed to recapture form after Stoke City exit

While Wilfried Bony will consider himself unlucky for the treatment he received at Stoke City, it was an experience that he could never battle back from, with the forward suffering further heartache as injuries took over the latter stages of his career.

It began with a permanent move back to Swansea, but the player struggled with his fitness and was unable to find the form he'd shown during his first spell in South Wales.

A loan move to Qatari side Al-Arabi followed in January 2019, before he was released by the Swans.

Bony then signed for Saudi Premier League club Al-Ittihad in 2020, leaving the club later that year.

He then failed to find a new side for over a year, often training with Newport County, as he was still living in Swansea and looked to keep fit.

He did eventually sign for Dutch club NEC Nijmegen in January 2022, but he played just once thanks to a fresh injury issue.

He continued to train with Newport County after and even scored the winning goal in a development match in December 2022 against Swindon Town, before earning a deal with Bolivian club Always Ready.

But Bony left Always Ready later that year and subsequently hung up his boots.

Overall, Bony’s spell at Stoke will hardly want to be remembered by those connected in the Potteries, with the club taking on a player who was on a sharp decline and never worth such a sizeable investment.