5 transfers that should never have happened in the Premier League

Wilfried Bony's move to Manchester City may have ruined his career

#4 Wilfried Bony to Manchester City

There are plenty of examples of players in the Premier League moving to a bigger club too soon and failing to get any game time, but Wilfried Bony stands out as one of the most jarring, largely because during his run at Swansea City, he did appear to be good enough for one of the title contenders. Quite what’s gone wrong for him since is anyone’s guess really.

Bony joined Swansea for the beginning of the 2013/14 season for a club record fee of £12m after a stunning goalscoring record in the Dutch league. And he didn’t slow down upon his arrival in Wales either, bagging 17 Premier League goals, an impressive return considering he was at a mid-table club at best. His good form continued into 2014/15, scoring nine goals in his first 20 league games, and it only seemed like a matter of time before one of the big boys came knocking.

Sure enough, Manchester City swooped in during the January 2015 transfer window and signed the Ivorian for a £25m fee. However, from there on, things went downhill. He scored twice in his first 10 league games for his new club, and then contracted malaria, which wrecked his 2015/16 pre-season. A shoddy return of four league goals in 26 games followed, and he ended up shipped out to Stoke on loan in time for 2016/17.

The worst part? The move hasn’t reignited his career at all, as he only scored two goals in 10 league games for the Potters and clashed with manager Mark Hughes on occasions too. Not only did Man City essentially waste £25m on someone who became a bit-part player, the move also seems to have ruined his career in the process.