I was recently weighing up the pros and cons of a new centre forward, and in particular Wilfred Bony and what he might bring to the champions.
Every top team that has been successful has always had 4 players that can play up top in some capacity, whether that be as an out-and-out striker or as modern football’s latest craze ‘the false 9’ – whatever that means.
Carlos Tevez, Edin Džeko, Mario Balotelli, and of course Sergio Aguero were the 4 we had when we won the premier league first time back in 2012, and then we replaced Tevez and Mario with Jovetic and Negredo for last season. Did it work? Yes.
So after the (correct) decision to let Negredo go back to his native Spain in August we went into a potential 60 game season with a front 3.
Has it worked so far? Well, yes and no. We are currently joint top, have progressed in the Champions League and the FA Cup, but the early exit from the Capital One Cup back in October means there is a blot on the copy book. There is also the question of what might have been had we had a 4th front player to turn to in the first half of the season, and in particular one of quality. One who brings a presence, power and goals to a team that currently is mid table. Come in Wilfred Bony. The calendar year’s leading Premier League scorer has proved that he knows where the net is, and every time I have seen him play he looks like a right handful, causing Vincent Kompany and his partner problems on each encounter with The Swans. Džeko despite his important goals still remains somewhat of an enigma and still divides opinion in the stands, although more seem to be saying he’s not up to it (something I agree with). Jovetic is not an out and out centre forward, and despite a better work rate than Edin, to me looks like he’s not up to it either. There is also the question of what his best position is and whether or not he can fit into City’s formation, with players like Silva and Nasri ahead of him in the pecking order.
So back to Bony, are we overpaying? Probably, but as the richest team in the country we are always going to; there are so many recent examples I don’t need to name names. He provides power, the ability to hold the ball up and bring others into the game, goals and he allows us to go into the business end of the season with four strikers up top. Go get him Manuel.
