Wilfried Bony says he will return to Swansea tomorrow well aware that some fans will question why he left them to play “only a couple of minutes” at Manchester City.
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The striker has endured a tough time at the Etihad following his £28 million (Dh162m) move in January, starting just two of 10 games and scoring once.
Having arrived after helping the Ivory Coast win the African Cup of Nations, Bony struggled for fitness and form and could do little as City faltered in their pursuit of big prizes.
They will end up without a major trophy, but the 26-year-old wants to show that his dream move was no mistake.
“I hope they will give me a nice reception, but it could be good or it could be bad,” said Bony. “There will be some [fans] who are happy to see me and some not.
“They’ll say ‘he’s not playing there at City, only a couple of minutes, he should not have left’.
“But this is part of football, it is what it is. You can’t be loved by everyone.
“Of course I would love to score back at Swansea. It’s been a difficult time here at City, but this is football.
“I can’t choose the international programme, I can’t choose the time to be injured.
“Of course I would like to have been here more, to be fit and to be scoring, but that is something you can’t control. All I can do now is work and try and help my team.
“Next season is when you will see the real Bony at City. It’s about me trying to adapt to the way City play.
STAY WITH ME! #IvoryCoast striker Wilfried Bony has urged compatriot Yaya Toure to stay at #MCFC: “He brought me here so he needs to stay.”
— Oluwashina Okeleji (@oluwashina) May 13, 2015
“Some of these players have been here for a long time, but I’ve just arrived.
“I’ve needed to get to know the players, introduce myself, but still do my best for the team while they are waiting for me.
“But I like it here, this club is always fighting, the pressure is everywhere – I am not afraid about that.
“I knew at Swansea if you want to get to play for a top-four club I needed to prepare very well do my best and score a lot of goals.
“That’s what I’ve done. I’m here now, I’ve come late in the season, but I just need to prepare myself for next season. We’ll see how I do then.”
And he would love to form a “scary” frontline with Sergio Aguero, should boss Manuel Pellegrini revert to a two-man strikeforce again as his side bid to secure second spot.
The Argentine took his tally to 31 for the season with a hat-trick against QPR last weekend, and has 25 in the league to top the scoring charts, five clear of Harry Kane.
Bony said: “He’s one of the best. He’s got 25 goals in the league, hopefully now he will be the top scorer.
“You can see when we play together that there is something there. You can see we are both different too.
“I couldn’t say I’m quic-ker than him, but he’s not stronger than me. But we can work together and complement each other.
“Together I think we can be quite scary. That’s why I want to prepare myself for the next season and make sure I am ready for that.”
