Former Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony made a scoring return to English football as he notched the winner for Newport County in a friendly against Swindon Town on Tuesday night.
Bony is best known for his spell playing for Swansea between 2013 and 2015, when he impressed with 26 goals and six assists in 54 Premier League games. That strike-rate earned him a £28million transfer to Man City, but things didn't work out for the Ivory Coast international.
His star has faded since leaving City in 2017, with a second spell with Swansea followed by brief stints in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Bony signed for Dutch side NEC Nijmegen in January, but a hamstring injury meant he made just one 15-minute substitute appearance.
Now 33, Bony is now back in Wales training with Newport, who have provided him with a place to keep fit between spells at other clubs since the summer of 2019. However, it was still a surprise to see the striker made an appearance for the Welsh club on Tuesday.
Bony came off the bench in a friendly against Swindon – and even scored an 87th-minute winner. The two sides traded goals, with Tomi Adeloye netting for the away side before an own goal from Marcel Lavinier made it 1-1.
The stage was set for Bony, who came on in the 55th minute to tap in the winner from close range, after putting a header over the bar and striking the woodwork. Newport shared the goal update on their Twitter page, only to be inundated with shocked replies from football fans who had no idea Bony was still playing – let alone for Newport.
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The Welsh side are currently 18th in League Two and don’t appear to have designs on signing up a player with 56 caps for Ivory Coast. Bony is more likely keeping fit with Newport before trying to find a new club elsewhere.
After signing a short-term deal with NEC in January, he explained the situation. "I trained with Newport County, and I just want to thank them," he said.
"They make me train with them all the time, so it was very important for me to keep fit until the moment arrived for me to be playing again. For the time, I'm not able to play for 90 minutes already, but in time, because I'm starting training already, I will very soon be playing 90 minutes."
NEC sporting director Ted van Leeuwen added: “I noticed that Wilfried was not at peace with his retirement as a football player. He is still highly motivated and eager to finish his career on a good note. Bony is a man of his word.
"We have calculated that Wilfried has a considerable training deficit. That can be done away with. For someone who has been out of circulation for so long, I think he is still remarkably fit. He would prefer to play football for another year and a half and then end his impressive career with honours.”