Re: Bony signs - official
Heavyweight Wilfried Bony ready to fire Manchester City to success
THE JOKE among Wilfried Bony’s Ivory Coast team-mates is that he weighed into the world as a whopping 14lb baby.
By Richard Tanner
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While that might be questionable, there is no doubt he now tips the scales at 14st of pure muscle, primed and ready to beef up Manchester City’s pursuit of the Premier League and Champions League double.
Bony’s claim that he is “as hard as concrete” is backed up by those who know him. Liverpool’s Kolo Toure, an international team-mate, says: “I have rarely seen a guy like that – he is pure power.”
And Tottenham goalkeeper Michel Vorm, who spent last season getting his hands stung by Bony in training at Swansea, said of the power of his shooting: “I have never felt anything like it.
“One of his legs is like two of mine. When he sneezes, that noise…wow! And when he gives you a little pat, you know about it!”
Aside from Bony’s undoubted eye for a goal, his strength and ability to hold the ball up to bring team-mates into play also helped convince City boss Manuel Pellegrini to meet Swansea’s £28million asking price – a £25m downpayment and £3m more in add-ons.
“He is very difficult to mark because he is so strong,” said Pellegrini, who will give Bony his debut alongside Sergio Aguero against Newcastle today.
“He is an intelligent footballer who has skill and power. His goal record has been excellent since he came to England. He adapted very quickly to the game here and he will settle in at City quickly. He will be a very good addition to our squad.”
Bony’s strength should not be a surprise considering he developed the hard way – playing street football barefoot before his mother bought him his first pair of boots at 13 when he joined the Cyrille Domoraud Academy in Bingerville.
His rags-to-riches story is hardly one of overnight success.
As a youngster he was a central defender, then a midfielder before becoming a striker – his idol was the Brazilian Ronaldo, inset, after joining Issia Wazi in Ivory Coast’s Premier League.
A trial with Liverpool in 2007 failed to materialise into a contract.
It was only after joining Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic that his career took off. After 30 goals in 75 games for Sparta he joined Vitesse Arnhem and has never looked back.
In his second full season with Vitesse he scored a remarkable 37 goals in 36 games to become the Eredivisie’s top scorer, earn the Dutch player of the year award and secure a £12m move to Swansea. Bony, 26, is not only
concerned with the right physical preparation.
He also likes to be in the perfect mental state and chooses his entourage with care. “I know who can help me, I know who can’t,” he said.
“The people who can help me, I told them from the beginning ‘I want this and that. If you help me, I’ll help you’.”
One of the men who matters most is his French ‘mental coach’, Olivier Guillier, a former amateur footballer who worked or Le Mans and is described as “part psychologist, part physical trainer, and part guru”.
Bony said: “He takes care of everything, he helps me prepare my matches, physically and psychologically.”
And Guillier has already helped Bony overcome the most diffiult time in his career, when despite being Swansea’s record signing, he struggled to secure a starting place under
Michael Laudrup at the start of last term, before finishing with 25 goals and adding nine more this season to seal his City move.
One man who is not surprised by Bony’s development is academy chief Cyrille Domoraud, who said: “He is a wise boy who knows what he wants. He has a good head on his shoulders.”
When Bony sets his mind on something he usually achieves it – he is fluent in French, Czech, Dutch and English.
Having achieved his ambition of joining a Champions League club, he will go straight in at the deep end with City facing Barcelona on Tuesday.
Typically, Bony will not be fazed. “I’ve waited a long time to play in this tournament,” he said. “Now I want to win it.”
