Transfer deadline day 2016: Manchester City’s Wilfried Bony joins Stoke on season-long loan
Stoke City have signed Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony on a season-long loan, after the Ivory Coast international was deemed surplus to requirements by new boss Pep Guardiola.
Bony, who still has three years remaining on his City contract, becomes Stoke's fourth signing of the summer.
The Potters have been relatively restrained this summer, spending just under £17.7m so far on Welsh midfielder Joe Allen and 19-year-olds Ramadan Sobhi and Ryan Sweeney, but beat rumoured interest from West Ham to Bony's signature.
After averaging a goal a game in a season and a half at Swansea, the 27-year-old struggled to make a similar impact at the Etihad Stadium following his £30m move in January 2015.
"Bringing Wilfried in was a no-brainer for us to be perfectly honest, because he knows the Premier League and has scored plenty of goals at this level," said Stoke manager Mark Hughes.
"He has power, speed and very good physical attributes which will undoubtedly help us, and his technical and finishing skills are outstanding too.
"Eighteen months ago he was being bought for a hugely significant amount of money, so we know that we are bringing in a top quality striker.
"Everybody is aware of Wilfried and what he is capable of and it was no surprise that one of the bigger clubs came in for him on the back of his performances for Swansea — the only surprise has been that he didn't enjoy the success with Manchester City that we all thought he would."