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Wilfried Bony's new contract won't end rumours, says Swansea's Garry Monk

Swansea boss Garry Monk admits Wilfried Bony's new contract will not stop the speculation about his future.

Bony signed a one-year contract extension on Wednesday that will keep him at the Liberty Stadium until June 2018 after proving to be a huge hit since his club record 12 million pound move from Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem in the summer of 2013.

The Ivory Coast striker -- who scored 25 goals in his first season in English football and has another four so far this term -- has been linked with Arsenal and Liverpool in the past and Monk accepts that speculation will always exist if the 25-year-old keeps on performing.

"It's just reward for what he's been doing since he joined us and it's a boost for the club and the fans but also for his teammates," Monk said at his news conference ahead of Saturday's Premier League game at Manchester City.

"He's been very important on and off the pitch but he shows the commitment that the club have shown him in offering him a new deal.

"The club deserves it too and him signing it shows clear indication he wants to be here and part of this team, training with the players he's training with.

"But I don't think any contract you sign will stop speculation and being linked with anyone. We can't stop speculation whether it's a one-year or 20-year contract but that's not our problem.

"My problem is to try and sign the players we want on long-term contracts for as long as possible."

Bony could actually miss as many as six games for Swansea in January and February following the Ivory Coast's qualification this week for the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Equatorial Guinea.

But Bony will be available after the Ivory Coast's goalless draw against Cameroon which secured CAF qualification for the trip to the Etihad Stadium -- a ground where Swansea have yet to score in the Premier League, let alone collect a point.

Manchester City have injuries to key players this weekend with Aleksandar Kolarov and Edin Dzeko ruled out by injury and captain Vincent Kompany and David Silva also struggling to make Swansea's visit.

But Monk said: "The players they've got to come in would get in most sides in the league.

"They are very strong as well and probably look at this as a chance to get three points but, hopefully, we can put on a performance to try and warrant points for ourselves.

"It's a tough place to go as they've got an extremely good squad and are defending champions. But the players relish these games to see how far they've come as individuals and a group.

"We can see how far we have come in these games and this is another chance to do that."

Swansea climbed into the top five before the international break with an excellent 2-1 comeback home victory over Arsenal but Monk said no-one was getting carried away at the Liberty Stadium with the start they have made this season.

"We just focus on the next game because if you look too far ahead you lose track of what you're doing," Monk said. "We're just looking at Man City and giving that 100 per cent commitment and effort and see where that takes us.

"Who knows if we can stay in the top six. You obviously look at the tables but my focus is on attacking every single game as best we can.

"We want to get the best performances and hopefully that will get us enough points to stay in the top half of the table and see where that takes us.

"We're realistic and teams below us are very powerful financially, but all I care is we compete against these teams and we're competing so far."

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