Wilfried Bony

Wilfried Guemiand Bony (born 10 December 1988) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Stoke City on loan from Manchester City, and for the Ivory Coast national team.
Having begun his career at Issia Wazi, he moved to Sparta Prague in 2007, helping them to the Czech First League title in 2009–10. In January 2011 he was signed by Dutch side Vitesse, where he was the top scorer in the Eredivisie in 2012–13, leading to a £12 million transfer to Premier League club Swansea City. Bony scored 35 goals in 70 appearances for the Swans and in January 2015 he joined Manchester City for £28 million. Bony struggled for game time at Man City and following the arrival of Pep Guardiola in the summer of 2016 he joined Stoke City on loan for the 2016–17 season.
A full international since 2010, Bony was selected in the Ivorian squads for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, helping them to victory in the 2015 edition.

Bony was born in Bingerville and he played street football from a young age, and later played at the Maracanã Bingerville football school. He also participated in many interschool and city cups, before spending three years at the Cyril Domoraud Academy in Bingerville.

Issia Wazi

Bony started his professional career at Issia Wazi in the Ivorian top flight and ended the 2007 season as top goalscorer.

Sparta Prague

Bony had a two-week trial at Premier League club Liverpool in 2007 but was not offered a contract, and in October 2007, Bony joined Czech club Sparta Prague on a loan deal where he immediately started playing for their B team. Bony won the Bohemian Football League championship with Sparta Prague B. Bony then joined the club on a permanent basis and broke into the first team in the 2008–09 season, scoring three goals in 16 appearances. In 2009–10, he scored nine times as Sparta won the Czech First League title. After scoring 17 goals during the first half of the 2010–11 season, including five goals in six appearances in the UEFA Europa League, Bony was signed by Dutch Eredivisie club Vitesse in January 2011 for £3.4 million.

Vitesse

Bony playing for Vitesse in August 2012

Bony signed a three-and-a-half year contract with Vitesse and scored on his debut in a 2–0 derby win over De Graafschap on 20 February 2011. In his first full season with Vitesse, Bony netted on 12 occasions in the Eredivisie, earning the top goalscoring honors for the club and was tied for tenth-highest scorer in the league. In February 2012, Bony signed a contract extension, keeping him until 2015 and ending transfer speculation.

Bony made his first appearance of the 2012–13 Eredivisie campaign for Vitesse on 12 August 2012 in a 2–2 draw with ADO Den Haag at the GelreDome, equalizing for the hosts less than a minute after Tjaronn Chery had put ADO in front. Bony then scored a 90th-minute winner over Feyenoord on 2 September to earn the club its third win from its first four league games. On 6 October, he scored a hat-trick as Vitesse came back from a goal down three times to draw 3–3 with Heerenveen.

During Vitesse's 2–0 upset of Ajax on 4 November, Bony scored both goals, helping Vitesse to six away wins in a row and the club's first win at the Amsterdam Arena since 2001. He added two more goals to his account in Vitesse's 4–1 defeat of NEC Nijmegen on 18 November, earning Vitesse just their second home win of the season as NEC had three men sent off. On 25 November, Vitesse travelled to Eindhoven to face league leaders PSV; Bony scored a late winner to put Vitesse on 31 points, level with second place Twente.

On 9 February 2013, Bony returned from his participation in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations to face PSV and once again scored twice, securing a 2–2 draw. On 23 February, Bony scored a hat-trick to send Vitesse to a 5–3 victory over Heracles Almelo. On 15 April, he scored for the ninth consecutive match in a 3–3 draw with Roda JC. Bony ended the season as the Eredivisie's top scorer with 31 goals in 30 matches and was awarded the Golden Shoe for the best player in the Netherlands.

Swansea City

On 11 July 2013, Bony signed a four-year contract with Welsh side Swansea City, who paid a Welsh record fee of £12 million. Bony's work permit was delayed briefly, but was granted three days later. He made his competitive debut for Swansea in the club's Europa League third qualifying round tie against Malmö FF, scoring two second-half goals in a 4–0 first leg victory on 1 August.

The BBC listed Bony as one of the Premier League signings to watch for the 2013–14 Premier League. In the opening game of the 2013–14 season on 17 August, Bony scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 loss against Manchester United. Shortly after, Bony scored his first goal for Swansea in a UEFA competition, in the first leg of the Europa League qualification round against Romanian side Petrolul Ploiești in a 5–1 win. He then scored a brace in Swansea's 3–3 draw with Stoke City in November. In the third round of the FA Cup, Bony scored a 90th-minute header against Manchester United to send Swansea through to the next round in what was Swansea's first-ever win at Old Trafford. After scoring in a 3–1 win at Sunderland on the final day of the Premier League season, he finished 2013–14 having scored 25 goals.

On 20 September 2014, Bony was sent off in the first half of a 1–0 home defeat to Southampton. He scored his first goal of the season on 4 October in a 2–2 draw against Newcastle United. On 25 October, Bony scored both goals as Swansea defeated Leicester City 2–0, taking him to a total of 20 Premier League goals for Swansea, drawing him level alongside former teammate Michu as the club's all-time leading Premier League goal-scorer. With 20 goals, Bony was the Premier League's top scorer in the calendar year of 2014.

Manchester City

On 14 January 2015, Bony signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with fellow Premier League club Manchester City. The two teams agreed an initial fee of £25 million, which can rise to £28 million, which would then make him the most expensive African footballer to date. Bony was included in his new club's squad for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, at the expense of Stevan Jovetić.

After winning the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Bony made his Manchester City debut on 21 February, replacing Sergio Agüero for the last 60 minutes of a 5–0 win over Newcastle United at the City of Manchester Stadium. On 21 March 2015, Bony registered his first league goal with City in a 3–0 home win over West Bromwich Albion, scoring the first of the team's three goals. He scored his second goal for the club as a late substitute in a 4–2 win at his former employer Swansea City on 17 May.

In the summer of 2015 Bony contracted Malaria which hampered his pre-season preparations. Bony was selected to start in Manchester City's opening match of the 2015–16 Premier League season, away to West Brom. He was on the pitch for 63 minutes before being substituted for Sergio Agüero as the team won 3–0 at the The Hawthorns. On 17 October 2015, Bony scored his first two goals of the season as Manchester City defeated Bournemouth 5–1 at the City of Manchester Stadium. He followed this up with his first Champions League goal in a 3–1 away victory against Sevilla on 3 November 2015.

On 8 December, Bony appeared as a 65th-minute substitute for Fabian Delph in City's final fixture of the Champions League group stage against Borussia Mönchengladbach. He helped turn a 2–1 deficit into a 4–2 win, assisting two goals for Raheem Sterling before scoring the fourth goal, ensuring City overtook Juventus in the group standings. Bony scored eight goals in 34 appearances in 2015–16. Following the arrival of Pep Guardiola as manager, Bony was made available for transfer.

Loan to Stoke City

On 31 August 2016, Bony signed for Stoke City on a season-long loan deal. He made his debut for Stoke on 10 September 2016 against Tottenham Hotspur. After going seven games without a goal he scored twice in a 3–1 victory over his former club Swansea City on 31 October 2016.

Bony with the Ivory Coast, November 2012

In late 2010, Bony was called up by Ivory Coast and made his debut in a 1–0 away victory against Burundi, where he came on as a substitute in the 80th minutes for Gervinho.

2012 Africa Cup of Nations

On 30 January 2012, Bony scored the second goal in the Ivory Coast's 2–0 win over Angola in the third game of the group stages of the African Cup of Nations.

2014 FIFA World Cup

Bony was included in the Ivory Coast's 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In their first group match against Japan, he scored the equalising goal with a header after a cross from Serge Aurier. Ivory Coast eventually overcame their opponents with a 2–1 win. Against Greece in the final game of the group stages, Bony came on as a substitute in the second half to get the equalising goal before the Ivory Coast lost to an injury time penalty.

2015 Africa Cup of Nations

In a quarter-final 3–1 win over Algeria, Bony scored two headers, one from a Max Gradel cross and the second from a Yaya Touré free kick. In the final's penalty shoot-out, he took the Ivory Coast's first attempt and hit the crossbar, although his team eventually triumphed.

Bony's father's name is Amedee Shemiz Bony. Bony speaks fluent French, English and Czech, and also speaks Dutch.

Club

As of match played 27 December 2016

International

As of match played 23 March 2016

International goals

Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	5 June 2011	Stade de l'Amitie, Cotonou, Benin	Benin	6–2	6–2	2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2.	3 September 2011	Stade Amahoro, Kigali, Rwanda	Rwanda	2–0	5–0
3.				3–0
4.	30 January 2012	Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea	Angola	2–0	2–0	2012 Africa Cup of Nations
5.	27 May 2012	Stade Municipal Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, France	Mali	2–0	2–1	Friendly
6.	30 January 2013	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg, South Africa	Algeria	2–2	2–2	2013 Africa Cup of Nations
7.	23 March 2013	Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire	Gambia	1–0	3–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.	8 June 2013	Independence Stadium, Bakau, The Gambia	Gambia	2–0	3–0
9.	16 June 2013	Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania	Tanzania	4–2	4–2
10.	14 June 2014	Itaipava Arena Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil	Japan	1–1	2–1	2014 FIFA World Cup
11.	24 June 2014	Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza, Brazil	Greece	1–1	1–2
12.	11 October 2014	Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo	DR Congo	1–0	2–1	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
13.	1 February 2015	Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea	Algeria	1–0	3–1	2015 Africa Cup of Nations
14.				2–1
15.	20 January 2017	Stade d'Oyem, Oyem, Gabon	DR Congo	1–1	2–2	2017 Africa Cup of Nations

Club

AC Sparta Prague

• Czech First League: 2009–10

Manchester City

• Football League Cup: 2015–16

Country

Ivory Coast

• Africa Cup of Nations: 2015

Individual

• Eredivisie Top scorer: 2012–13
• Dutch Footballer of the Year: 2012–13
• Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2015

• ^
• "Orange AFCON 2015 Awards and Best XI". CAF. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2016.