Ivorian ace finally pens 4-year deal, while the Swans are reported to be talking to Esteban Granero & Wakaso Mubarak
Well it's finally official! The club's website has been in overdrive the last few days; posting updates of the tour and interviews with new signings, so it's understandable that it took over 24 hours after photos emerged of Bony in Swans attire for his signature to be announced on the club website. This is likely due to the fact that the deal was originally agreed verbally, so no doubt the club were erring on the side of caution in regards to announcing a club-record-breaking transfer.
One thing to note is that whilst playing for Sparta Prague, Bony finished top scorer of the Europa League - bagging nine goals in the process, and having another crack at European competition is clearly something which he's looking forward to;
Bony seems a powerful finisher very much in the mould of Didier Drogba, and that's a type of player we've been sadly missing in recent times. Michu did his best to address that problem, but he clearly didn't enjoy being battered by, normally, a pair of burly centre-backs and much prefers making late runs into the box - it's high time the Swans had a player capable of retaining possession up front, because to be honest since the departure of Jason Scotland we haven't really had a striker capable of both building play, and scoring lots of goals.
Here's something to whet your appetite...
Swansea in talks over Esteban Granero
This has been rumoured for quite a while, and it seems there's now something to this. His agent has been quoted by Skysports as saying Swansea is an "acceptable destination" for his client:
"The two clubs are talking about a transfer, it's true. Michael Laudrup knows him very well from their time at Getafe, where together they had a great UEFA Cup campaign.
"Swansea are also looking at many Spanish players and play in Europe next year, [so] the destination would be absolutely acceptable to Esteban."
In true impartial style, Skysports neglected to include the bit at the end where the agent said "...but his preferred destination is Italy" - but let's be honest why would you let some words affect a potential rumour?
Personally I think we're loaded up on midfielders now, and if he comes in surely someone else may be departing? Ki seemed out of favour at times last season, and I sincerely hope that he won't be a casualty of Laudrup "building a side in his own image".
Swans told to up their offer for Wakaso Mubarak
As mentioned a few days ago, it seems we're interested in bringing Espanyol winger Mubarak to the Liberty. While it seems we were originally offering a fee of around £3.5million, it looks like closer to £5million will now be required for the Swans to get their man. They didn't specify who it was who'd had a bid turned down, but it's widely believed to be Swansea City:
"We have received an offer from a European club but we will not sell on these terms." Espanyol director Jose Luis Morlanes
A full Ghanaian international, he's impressed for his country of late and has scored a few absolute screamers; notably this one: (I've linked it before but it deserves another watch - it's Villareal's third goal).
For less than £5million, if he can indeed compete at PL level that's a pretty decent bargain for an attacking winger. Let's be honest, I wouldn't spend that on Stewart Downing...