There such a mad scramble amongst Premier League clubs to secure the signing of Ivory Coast international attacker Wilfried Bony at the end of the season.
London rivals Chelsea and West Ham United are set to go head to head for the signature of Vitesse Arnhem’s in-form front man Wilfried Bony this summer.
SOURCE: The Sun
Reports have been rife of late about a whole host of interest from the English top flight in coveted Vitesse Arnhem centre-forward Wilfried Bony, with the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle United and now both London duo Chelsea and West Ham United all having recently sent scouts out to Holland to watch the player in action.
The Hammers actually came within a whisker of bringing the player to the East End of London last summer, in what would have been a club-record transfer for the Premier League club had the deal not collapsed at the very last minute.
Head coach Sam Allardyce may well be thinking just what might have been had West Ham been able to land the 24-year-old forward.
One thing is for sure, the club would not now be fighting a relegation battle if Bony had managed the prolific season in front of goal that he is currently enjoying for Vitesse in the Eredivisie. The striker sits comfortably on top of the scoring charts in Holland at present with an eye-catching 26 goals in only 24 appearances for his club.
And overall, for club and country in all competitions this campaign, he has found the back of the net 33 times in just 33 matches, which is a Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo-style scoring rate – albeit in a weaker league.
Meanwhile, since joining Vitesse from Sparta Prague for just £4 million in Jan 2011, Bony has racked up 38 goals in 57 games for the Dutch club and so is clearly a man with an eye for goal, although potential suitors should beware a slight knee problem that he suffered last season.
However, at an estimated cost of between £8.8m and £12m for a player contracted until 2015, Bony is not exactly in the A-list of players when it comes to big-money transfers, while his wage demands of £80,000 per week are also a tricky thing to manage for any club.
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