Would Swansea Striker Wilfried Bony Be a Wise Buy for Desperate Manchester City?

Manchester City need another striker in the worst way. And buying Swansea City striker Wilfried Bony would probably be the worst way to address that need.

Not to say that Bony is a bad player. Bony is a very useful striker whose breakout season came in 2012/13 with Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie, when Bony struck 31 goals in just 24 matches.

Bony moved to Swansea before the 2013/14 season and debuted nicely in the Premier League with 16 more goals in 34 appearances. He has struck eight times this season for the Swans.

Note that Bony is not agitating to leave Swansea. Far from it. According to a recent PA Sport report, "Bony has said he is happy playing at Swansea and in November signed a one-year extension to his contract which now runs at the Liberty Stadium until 2018" (h/t ESPNFC.com).

The buzz around Bony is almost wholly the creation of Manchester City and Chelsea, both of whom have sky-high Champions League and Premier League aspirations while being a bit short up front.

Chelsea have the league's second-leading scorer in Diego Costa but precious little behind him.

Per Joe Strange of the Daily Mail, Chelsea "could be looking for a long-term replacement for Didier Drogba...at 36, and with just six months left on his current contract, Drogba does not represent Chelsea's future."

As for Manchester City, they have the league's leading scorer in Sergio Aguero. But Aguero has struggled to stay healthy in recent seasons and is currently unavailable until, at minimum, the Sky Blues' tangle with Everton on Jan. 10.

Behind Aguero, both Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic have been injury-prone and largely ineffective all season.

"City manager Manuel Pellegrini has already admitted that he may be forced into the January transfer market to find a new striker and Bony is one of a clutch of players the club are considering," wrote Matt Law in The Telegraph.

Recent reports have City and Chelsea on something of a collision course for Bony's services, which is why City need to tread very carefully.

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"Chelsea and Manchester City could be preparing £30 million bids for Wilfried Bony," wrote Jacob Steinberg for the Guardian. Right there is where this train needs to leave the tracks for City.

City may need a striker, but unless Aguero, Dzeko and Jovetic are all in much worse shape than the club cares to admit, City really only need a striker for the next few weeks while those three regain health.

Adding Bony would do little to address the exigent need; Bony is off to the African Cup of Nations (with the Ivory Coast and Yaya Toure) and thus will not be available to whichever club might sign him until his run in that tournament ends.

Looking longer term, Bony might be an upgrade over Jovetic, but he probably is not a better fit than Dzeko.

Dropping £30 million and then adding Bony's wages to City's ledger is a big commitment for what would basically be a third-choice striker. Law's report in The Telegraph indicated that Bony would be looking for a four-year contract paying him £5 million per season.

While we are here, City are already wrestling with significant Financial Fair Play issues. They have made strides in recent months, but City still lost money in 2013/14 and should not risk running further afoul of UEFA. Ask Barcelona about that if you require details.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has characteristically whined and moaned about FFP restrictions, but to their credit, Chelsea are not presently on UEFA's watch list and thus are better positioned than City to pay what Bony will cost if that is what they want to do.

Ultimately, all of the reasons City might want to buy Bony, i.e., the immediate need for another striker and the desire to keep him away from Chelsea, are outweighed by the biggest reason not to buy Bony: On a purely objective level, Bony is not a £30 million player.

Yes, a player is worth what someone is willing to pay for him, and so if Chelsea pay £30 million for Bony, then that is his value. But considering that Chelsea reportedly paid £32 million for Costa, the idea that Bony is worth just £2 million less in transfer fees is sort of absurd.

Of course, Chelsea might see Bony as the last piece they need to win the Champions League and/or the Premier League, and it is hard to put a price on that. So maybe they will overpay for Bony on that basis.

City should let them. The Sky Blues are already heavily invested at striker and, let's face it, everywhere else on the roster.

Pellegrini can and should spend money this month, but City are not in a position to overpay for any player.

Much less Bony.