Boss steers clear of Bony speculation as he weighs up recruits
SWANSEA City boss Graham Potter says the club have received “nothing concrete” in regards to Wilfried Bony as speculation whirls about the striker’s future.
Reports in the last few days have seen the Ivorian linked with a move to Turkey and Galatasaray.
The Euro giants have long held an interest in the former Man City striker, and with Swansea understood to be open to offers for him, speculation has mounted.
But Potter, at his pre-Sheffield Wednesday press conference, stayed tight-lipped.
“Nothing concrete,” he said, when asked if the club had received enquiries for the 30-year-old. “You know what it’s like at this time of the year. I tend to stay away from speculation.”
Swansea have been linked with a move with Ayr striker Lawrence Shankland, suggesting that a move for more firepower could be in the offing. Potter offered a fitness update ahead of the date with the Owls, revealing that Bony has picked up a knock and that they were waiting on him.
“Tom Carroll is still unavailable,” Potter said. “Courtney Baker-Richardson is out, he rolled his ankle. Wilfried Bony we’re just waiting on. He felt some tightness in calf. Wayne (Routledge) and Nathan (Dyer) we’re fine after the game.”
One player he will be without for the rest of the season though is Martin Olsson.
The left-back injured his Achilles against Brentford last Saturday and Swansea’s worst fears were realised this week with the news he would miss the rest of the campaign.
Potter said: “We were concerned when it happened and hoped for the best but feared the worst. It’s a blow for us and him. We’ve just got to try and get him back as quickly as we can.
“That type of injury, you’re looking at around six months.”
The Swede is out of contract in the summer, but Potter said the priority was to help the defender back to action first.
“The focus is to try and help him get back to full fitness,” he said. “The rest, we’ll have to sit down with him and make a decision as a club, as we will with a few other players.
“The most important thing for us is that he gets back fit. The contract situation is a separate one.
“Anyone who gets injured like that, it’s a concern, regardless of the contract situation. This club is a good club with people that understand that it’s not just football, there’s other things and we need to make sure we look after people as best we can.”
Asked if the injury to Olsson had changed his January transfer plans, Potter played a straight bat.
“Not necessarily. Our plans for January are pretty constant. We know we need to improve if we can but like I’ve said previously, my job as a coach is to improve the players we have.
“At the same time we have to look to strengthen. It’s a blow to lose Martin but we’ve got options in that area.
“We have four games until the window opens so we’ll see what happens.”