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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Mathew Davies

Ex-Swansea City and Man City star Wilfried Bony is back in football and his new club is properly random

Former Swansea City striker WIlfried Bony is back in football.

He has signed for Bolivian club Always Ready, with a deal done and local reports stating he'll arrive in the country in the next few days.

Andrés Costa, president of the club, wrote on his social media channels: "A surprise for our fans. World Cup player, more than 140 goals in the first European divisions, Champions and Europa League, Champion of the African Cup of Nations. He played for Manchester City, Swansea, Sparta Prague and Vitesse among others."

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Bony had been training with League Two side Newport County in a bid to maintain match fitness having developed a longstanding relationship with the Exiles, which started with former boss Michael Flynn.

The former Manchester City star even pulled his boots on - and scored - during a development match for the Rodney Parade outfit.

He has now penned a deal to take him to the other side of the Atlantic and will feature in the preliminary rounds of the Copa Libertadores - the South American version of the Champions League.

It is almost exactly a year since Bony made his debut for his last club, NEC Nijmegen in the Netherlands, but his bow was cut to just 26 minutes due to injury.

When his contract expired in Holland he returned to Wales to keep fit. In December, new County boss Graham Coughlan revealed there was always the possibility of Bony signing for the Exiles.

"Wilf is in the building, so in regards to the January transfer window, it wouldn't take any settling in. There is always a possibility," Coughlan told the BBC.

"We've offered Wilf the use of the training facilities and he has been different class, he's been a great lad, his knowledge, his experience around the place has been brilliant with the young lads.

"I've never really looked at it beyond that, we played him the other day because we thought it would benefit the young lads who got to play around him.

"You never say never in football and if Wilf was up for it and he wanted, we would certainly sit and talk to him. If he raised his fitness levels we could have that conversation, I am open to anything."

Bony's career has now headed in a new direction, with his Bolivian adventure set to be his next chapter after stints in Europe and the Middle East.

The striker, now aged 34, was a big hit during his first stint with Swansea, which earned him a big-money move to Manchester City for a fee of £28million. Injuries have taken their toll on the Ivory Coast star and his return to SA1 did not go as planned, but he will always be fondly remembered in south Wales, with his son Geoff still playing for the club with the under-18s.

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