A lot to come from Wilfried Bony, says Michael Laudrup

Wilfried Bony

Wilfried Bony could be the answer to all of Swansea’s problems, admits manager Michael Laudrup.

“Everyone has been talking all summer about strikers,” said Laudrup. “Well, now it is done. It’s been difficult because everyone is looking to find someone special to score goals. When you do find them, other clubs want them as well. You have only got to look at Bony’s record last season (31 goals in 30 league games) to see that he is certainly someone who scores goals.”

The manager explained that there was a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Spaniard Michu and the team needed to look into other options.

“In many games last season the goals were placed firmly on the shoulders of Michu. And while he did extremely well with 22 goals, you can’t put everything on the shoulders of one man, especially when he is not regarded as a centre-forward. Hopefully Bony, who is very powerful, will take the pressure off and score some of those goals for us, although I am still looking for everyone in the team to chip in,” added Laudrup.

Bony, the club’s record signing till date completed the £12m move from Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem few days ago. The club’s previous record was the £5.55m they paid to secure the services of former Valencia player Pablo Hernandez last summer.

Bony was the top scorer with 12 goals from 28 league games in his first season with Vitesse followed by a far more prolific season, scoring 36 times in all competition.

“I never thought that Swansea would spend £12m on a player,” Swans chairman Huw Jenkins said. “But that’s the level we have reached at the moment and the limited amount of options available at the higher end of the market for quality and proven goalscorers.”

Swansea ended their tour of Holland with a 1-0 win over ADO Den Haag and now on their way home while they prepare for their friendly at Championship new boys Yeovil on Friday, 19 July.