Arsene Wenger blocked my dream move to Arsenal – so I joined Man City | Football

A former Premier League striker desperately wanted to play for Arsenal – but ended up signing for Manchester City after Arsène Wenger balked at his wage demands.

In 2014, the English top flight was full of elite strikers like Sergio Agüero, Harry Kane and Diego Costa. But it was a surprise name who finished top scorer of the calendar year.

Swansea City’s Wilfred Bony has scored 20 goals in those 12 months following prolific spells at Sparta Prague and Dutch club Vitesse. In total, he had scored 34 goals in 70 matches in all competitions for the Welsh side and was also doing business for the Ivory Coast.

Unsurprisingly, his form had attracted the attention of several rival clubs and by January 2015 he had his heart set on playing for the legendary Wenger at the Emirates – there was just one problem.

“Three clubs were interested in signing me after my first season at Swansea: Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City,” Bony told Ladbrokes.

“It made me happy that it was clubs like City and Arsenal who wanted to sign me because of the way they played. City’s way of playing was very similar to Swansea, so I knew the intensity and everything would be fine. I was happy with that.

“I knew Swansea wanted to sell me because I started to get benched. When the time came to move, I was thinking about the Africa Cup and preparing for it. So when the opportunity to move came up, I wanted to get it sorted quickly so I could be mentally ready for the tournament.

“City made their offer at the last minute – I wanted to join Arsenal. But at that time the money City were putting on the table was something no one could match, especially in terms of salary.

“When Arsène Wenger heard about the salary, he said: ‘It’s too big for us! It’s too big for us!”

“I wanted to join Arsenal so I met him again at Swansea when we were playing them. I spoke to him at the Marriott Hotel and Wenger again said the salary would be too high for them.

City are believed to have paid Bony £100,000-a-week and he moved to Manchester in a transfer worth £25m, with a further £3m added. At the time, this made the striker the most expensive African footballer of all time.

But the move didn’t work out for everyone involved: “I signed for the club while I was in Abu Dhabi, where Ivory Coast were based in preparation for the AFCON,” added the now 37-year-old.

“I only regret one thing: when I returned from the CAN, I was tired. I was tired because of the heat, because of the intensity, because of everything. I was done. It was difficult for me to reach the level where I wanted to be, what I needed to be to stand out.

“We had a party to celebrate winning the African Cup, but in a week I had to play against Newcastle and then Barcelona. So everything was bam, bam, bam, and added to that was the heat, which was up to 42°C. Then going to Manchester and England, where it was below 10°C at that time, it affects you.

“In 18 months, I was only fit for three months because I was constantly getting injured. And it’s difficult at clubs like City, who can buy any player rather than waiting until you are fit. So if they put a price on you and you haven’t played, it’s going to be hard for you to stay there.

As well as fitness issues, Bony also had to play second fiddle to Aguero and ended up scoring just 10 goals in 46 appearances for the Citizens, despite winning the League Cup.

In the summer of 2016, Bony was loaned out to Stoke City before eventually returning to Swansea, but he never rediscovered his shooting boots. After brief stints in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands and Bolivia, he ends his career in 2023.

Although it seemed from the outside that City were keen to get rid of Bony, he claims he was never forced to leave the Etihad: “We all knew Pep Guardiola was joining as manager several months before he arrived, but I only spoke to him on the first day of pre-season.

“We had good conversations. He liked me in training, which was nice. In fact, he told me that if I wanted, I could stay. He didn’t guarantee that I would play often, but he said that the most important thing was that I was ready to play every match.

“We talked, so there was a friend mentality despite our different way of seeing things. There was no confrontation over anything. But after I spoke, in my head I thought I had to play. That’s what I love about football: playing.

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