West Ham United continue their hunt for a new forward in the transfer market and the latest name that has been linked with a move to the London Olympic Stadium is Manchester City’s forgotten man Wilfried Bony.
The 28-year old has emerged as a target for the Hammers, along with several other Premier League clubs like Everton and West Bromwich Albion, while Ligue 1 outfit Marseille are also keen on the striker, according to reports from Transfer Market Web.
West Ham’s need for a new striker are obvious for everyone. After having fallen down the graces last season, following an exceptional 2015-16 season, manager Slaven Bilic is keen on coming back strongly in the next term.
After having endured a poor summer transfer window last time around, bringing in duds like Simone Zaza, Jonathan Calleri, Sofiane Feghouli etc., the Croatian manager will be wanting to tread with more caution this time in picking his transfer targets and signing Bony wouldn’t be the best thing in that direction.
Bony, who took the Premier League by storm in the 2013-14 season, when he joined Swansea City from Vitesse Arnhem, has been struggling to repeat his heroics in the past two years. Having scored 17 Premier League clubs in his debut season in England for the Swans, the striker became a household name and continued his impressive form the next season as well, scoring 9 more from 20 league games.
Seeing his impressive goal-scoring form, Manchester City, then led by Manuel Pellegrini, snapped him up in January 2015 for a fee in the region of £28 million (BBC). Having arrived at the Etihad for a large sum of money, there were plenty of expectations on the Ivory Coast international. But Bony failed to meet up to those expectations miserably and managed just 10 goals in 46 appearances for the Citizens.
When Pellegrini was done and dusted at the Etihad and Pep Guardiola arrived, the change in regime did not bode well for the Ivorian and he was immediately packed off and sent on loan to Stoke City. However, things did not improve for Bony as he struggled to make an impression on his new manager Mark Hughes. Having hardly made any impact, Bony was relegated to a role on the bench and ended the season with just two goals in 11 games.
The 28-year old has been on a decline in the past two seasons, following his brilliant exploits with the Swans. Just 6 Premier League goals in 36 games since the start of the 2015-16 season aren’t numbers that scream out quality. And what’s more, the Hammers already have Andy Carroll in their ranks, who is very much similar to Bony in physical stature and mode of operation.
Bony may have been a good option to consider a couple of years ago, but after two and a half seasons of mediocre and lacklustre displays with Manchester City and Stoke City, West Ham will be taking a huge risk if they are going to sign him – a risk that is best avoided at this time.
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