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Wilfried Guemiand Bony (born 10 December 1988) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Having begun his career at Issia Wazy, Bony moved to Sparta Prague in 2007, helping them to the Czech First League title in 2009–10. In January 2011, he was signed by Dutch club SBV Vitesse, where he was the top scorer in the Eredivisie in 2012–13, leading to a £12 million transfer to Premier League club Swansea City. Bony scored 35 goals in 70 appearances for the Swans and in January 2015, joined Manchester City in a £28 million deal. However, he struggled for match-time, and following the arrival of Pep Guardiola in mid-2016, he joined Stoke City on loan for the 2016–17 season. Bony returned to Swansea in August 2017. After his loan spell with Al-Arabi, he was released by Swansea in May 2019 to leave on 30 June. In 2020, he signed a contract with Al-Ittihad, but in a mutual agreement with the club he left after playing ten games in the ten months with the team.
Internationally, Bony made his debut for Ivory Coast, in 2010, and was selected in the squads for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, helping them to victory in 2015.
Bony made his first appearance of the 2012–13 Eredivisie campaign for Vitesse on 12 August 2012 in a 2–2 draw with ADO Den Haag at the GelreDome, equalizing for the hosts less than a minute after Tjaronn Chery had put ADO in front. Bony then scored a 90th-minute winner over Feyenoord on 2 September to earn the club its third win from its first four league matches. On 6 October, he scored a hat-trick as Vitesse came back from a goal down three times to draw 3–3 with SC Heerenveen.
During Vitesse's 2–0 upset of AFC Ajax on 4 November, Bony scored both goals, helping Vitesse to six away wins in a row and the club's first win at the Amsterdam Arena since 2001. He added two more goals to his account in Vitesse's 4–1 defeat of NEC on 18 November, earning Vitesse just their second home win of the season as NEC had three players sent off. On 25 November, Vitesse travelled to Eindhoven to face league leaders PSV Eindhoven; Bony scored a late winner to put Vitesse on 31 points, level with second-placed FC Twente.
On 9 February 2013, Bony returned from his participation in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations to face PSV and once again scored twice, securing a 2–2 draw. On 23 February, Bony scored a hat-trick to send Vitesse to a 5–3 victory over Heracles Almelo. On 15 April, he scored for the ninth consecutive match in a 3–3 draw with Roda JC. Bony ended the season as the Eredivisie's top scorer with 31 goals in 30 matches and was awarded the Golden Shoe for the best player in the Netherlands.
The BBC listed Bony as one of the Premier League signings to watch for the 2013–14 Premier League. In the opening match of the 2013–14 season on 17 August, Bony scored his first goal for the club in a 1–4 loss against Manchester United. Shortly after, Bony scored his first goal for Swansea in a UEFA competition, in the first leg of the Europa League qualification round against Romanian side Petrolul Ploiești in a 5–1 win. He then scored a brace in Swansea's 3–3 draw with Stoke City in November. In the third round of the FA Cup, Bony scored a 90th-minute header against Manchester United to send Swansea through to the next round in what was Swansea's first-ever win at Old Trafford. After scoring in a 3–1 win at Sunderland on the final day of the Premier League season, he finished 2013–14 having scored 25 goals.
On 20 September 2014, Bony was sent off in the first half of a 1–0 home defeat to Southampton. He scored his first goal of the season on 4 October in a 2–2 draw against Newcastle United. On 25 October, Bony scored both goals as Swansea defeated Leicester City 2–0, taking him to a total of 20 Premier League goals for Swansea, drawing him level alongside former teammate Michu as the club's all-time leading Premier League goalscorer. With 20 goals, Bony was the Premier League's top scorer in the calendar year of 2014.
After winning the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Bony made his Manchester City debut on 21 February, replacing Sergio Agüero for the last 30 minutes of a 5–0 win over Newcastle United at the City of Manchester Stadium. On 21 March 2015, Bony registered his first league goal with City in a 3–0 home win over West Bromwich Albion, scoring the first of the team's three goals. He scored his second goal for the club as a late substitute in a 4–2 win at his former club Swansea on 17 May.
In the middle of 2015, Bony contracted malaria, which hampered his pre-season preparations. Bony was selected to start in Manchester City's opening match of the 2015–16 Premier League season, away to West Brom. He was on the pitch for 63 minutes before being substituted for Sergio Agüero as the team won 3–0 at The Hawthorns. On 17 October 2015, Bony scored his first two goals of the season as Manchester City defeated AFC Bournemouth 5–1 at the City of Manchester Stadium. He followed this up with his first Champions League goal in a 3–1 away victory against Sevilla FC on 3 November 2015.
On 8 December, Bony appeared as a 65th-minute substitute for Fabian Delph in City's final fixture of the Champions League group stage, against Borussia Mönchengladbach. He helped turn a 2–1 deficit into a 4–2 win, assisting two goals for Raheem Sterling before scoring the fourth goal, ensuring City overtook Juventus FC in the group standings. In the 2016 Football League Cup Final he came on as a substitute as Manchester City defeated Liverpool on penalties. Bony scored 8 goals in 34 appearances in 2015–16. Following the arrival of Pep Guardiola as manager, Bony was made available for transfer.
Swansea confirmed on 18 May 2019 that he would be released upon expiration of his contract. After being released by Swansea, he began training with Newport County in August 2019.
On 1 November, Bony announced on his Instagram account that he and the club had come a mutual agreement to terminate his contract after 10 months at the club.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||
| Sparta Prague B | 2007–08 | Bohemian Football League | 2 |
| Sparta Prague | 2008–09 | Czech First League | 3 |
| 2009–10 | Czech First League | 10 | |
| 2010–11 | Czech First League | 17 | |
| SBV Vitesse | 2010–11 | Eredivisie | 3 |
| 2011–12 | Eredivisie | 18 | |
| 2012–13 | Eredivisie | 37 | |
| Swansea City | 2013–14 | Premier League | 25 |
| 2014–15 | Premier League | 9 | |
| Manchester City | 2014–15 | Premier League | 2 |
| 2015–16 | Premier League | 8 | |
| Stoke City (loan) | 2016–17 | Premier League | 2 |
| Swansea City | 2017–18 | Premier League | 3 |
| 2018–19 | EFL Championship | 1 | |
| Al-Arabi (loan) | 2018–19 | Qatar Stars League | 5 |
| Al-Ittihad | 2019–20 | Saudi Pro League | 5 |
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year | ||
| Ivory Coast | 0 | |
| 3 | ||
| 1 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 0 | ||
| 1 | ||
| 2018 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | ||
Manchester City
Ivory Coast
Individual
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