Swansea boss seemingly rules out Bony sale - barring an "astronomical bid"
With Liverpool's bid for Remy seemingly dead in the water due to a failed medical (or Borini's desire to stay, depending who you believe) there has been talk the Scouse are due to turn their attention back to Bony. Thankfully, it seems they're more interested in Jay Rodriguez (you have to feel for Southampton) and as for Spurs... their lack of Champions League football seems set to scupper their pursuit of the Ivorian.
That hasn't stopped The Monk from coming out all defensive though...
“Wilfried remains a Swansea City player and we have had no contact from anyone about him. Everything that has been said about him this summer has been in the papers. We are not a newspaper company. We just deal with realism. At the moment nothing has come in and Wilfried remains a Swansea City player, but the situation can’t drag on for the whole summer."You don’t want one of those scenarios where it goes all the way up to the last day. It has to be made loud and clear, the fact is he is not for sale, unless someone comes in with an astronomical offer which does happen. Unless they want to pay an astronomical fee, then he is going nowhere.
“The plan is for him to play against Exeter. With some of the World Cup boys you have to monitor them as an individual. They have their own individual programmes within the group. We have to make sure they are right before we risk them out on the pitch. He should be involved at some point in the Exeter game.
“I spoke to him, he’s a good guy, a top professional. Fortunately I get on well with him. Every player has ambitions and aspirations and it would be silly for any player to say, ‘Oh no, I only want to stay at this club’. If a bigger or better so-called club comes along, and there’s a higher level of football there, then every player is going to do it."That’s the way it is, that’s the football world, but having spoken to Wilfried, he knows he’s a Swansea City player and he knows nothing has happened so far. All he wants to concentrate on is what is happening at Swansea City. That’s why he has travelled with the squad, if he was thinking about going he would not be here, would he?”
Now that's an inteview. No beating around the bush, or giving out ifs, buts and maybe's - Garry "Straight to the point" Monk, as he could easily be known. He acknowledges that, were a ridiculous bid to come in, we'd be helpless to stop him but importantly, he's put drawn a line in the sand and indicated we are not going to be bullied into selling short of, I'd imagine, £25million. For the Swans, that truly is an "astronomical figure" as Monk points out.
I'm more confident than ever that Bony will be a Swansea City player come kickoff on the first day of the season. There aren't many clubs that could afford him, and those that can... the face doesn't seem to fit - for whatever reason. This, combined with Monk's comments, mean this has been a very positive Monday for Swansea City.
Big Wilf is staying! We love you Wilf!