Football
PA Sport 9y

Wilfried Bony will be a success at Manchester City says Garry Monk

Wilfried Bony will prove himself at Manchester City if given the chance, says his former Swansea manager Garry Monk.

Bony returns to Swansea on Sunday for the first time since joining City four months ago, the Ivorian still struggling to justify the initial £ 25 million fee which could yet rise by another £3 million under the terms of the January transfer.

The 26-year-old has made only two starts and scored one goal at City, with the African Nations Cup and then injury hampering his hopes of making an instant impact at the Etihad Stadium.

But Monk feels that Bony, who is still Swansea's joint top scorer this season having scored nine times in the first half of the campaign, will show he is worth the money spent on him.

"Given the opportunity he will succeed for sure," Monk said ahead of City's Premier League visit to south Wales.

"When he first came to Swansea he had to adapt to the style of play and the team played a little bit of a different way, which wasn't maybe Bony's strong point.

"It's about finding a way to get the best out of your goalscorer and that takes time, planning and understanding from everyone.

"He understood exactly what we were asking of him and that's why he did so well and got the move to Manchester City.

"But the difference now is he is in a team packed full of world-class players and there is a lot of competition for those places."

Bony took time to settle at Swansea following his club record £12 million move from Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem in 2013 and was often left frustrated as then-manager Michael Laudrup struggled to fit him into his side's pattern of play.

But Bony ended his first season in English football with 25 goals and had scored 34 times in 70 Swansea appearances before heading north.

"When he came I was a player and I spoke to him a lot. I always had a close relationship with him," Monk said.

"He's so self-driven and full of self-belief and, though he found it tough to start with at Swansea, nothing was going to put him off playing.

"He was going to do it whether anyone wrote him off or not -- and that's why he has the perfect mentality to go and do it at a big club like Manchester City.

"I've never seen anyone with his strength and I am sure he will score goals there because that's what he does."

Monk believes Bony will get a "fantastic" reception from the Liberty Stadium faithful, saying Swansea supporters should not hold the player's desire to play in the Champions League against him.

"Some people will say players move for money, but I can tell you 100 per cent that Bony went for football reasons," Monk said.

"Whether that pans out to be the right call only he can say, and a lot of players have left here and not gone on to progress their careers.

"But the majority of them, at the time, I could see why they made that decision -- and you can't deny Bony made the right move at the right time."

^ Back to Top ^