Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony. (Photo : Getty Images)
English Premier League side Swansea City is prepared to disregard Manchester City's £16 million balance from last year's £28 million sale of Wilfried Bony if they return the Ivorian striker back to the Liberty Stadium this summer.
The Swans sold the 27-year-old forward to the Citizens in January 2015 for a transfer fee of £28 million. The Ivory Coast international was then signed to a four-and-a-half-year contract, but after only one-and-a-half seasons, Bony was not able to meet expectations at the Etihad and incoming manager Pep Guardiola is allegedly ready to let him go in the offseason.
City was only able to disburse £12 million to chairman Huw Jenkins' club since the deal was made and so there is still £16 million left to pay.
However, Swansea is said to be "ready to write off the outstanding £16 million balance" if City allows Bony to leave the squad and return to their side in the summer transfer window, the Daily Mirror reported.
The 5-foot-11 Bingerville, Ivory Coast native was considered as one of the world's best strikers when he was still with Dutch football club SBV Vitesse. He played with the Eredivisie squad for three seasons, scoring an astounding 53 goals in 73 games from 2010 to 2013, before he moved to England to suit up with Swansea.
Two seasons in Swansea saw him score 35 goals in 70 appearances which made him a high-value target in the winter of 2015.
However, his one-and-a-half season stay with City did not produce the desires results as he only scored 10 goals in a total of 46 games in all competitions for the Etihad giants being overtaken by Nigerian striker Kelechi Iheanacho as the main backup of Argentine goalscorer Sergio Agüero up front, Caught Offside noted.
Still, manager Francesco Guidolin is keen on taking him back from the Citizens this summer even at the expense of writing off past debts.
This season, Bony only netted four goals in 26 Premier League appearances, only 13 of which as a starter, which is said to be not deemed highly by Guardiola.
The Spanish manager, who had just won his third straight Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich, is rumored to be set in overhauling City's roster this summer starting with his offensive options.
