Stoke City outcast Wilfried Bony may be regretting not signing for West Ham United for a second time.
Stoke City’s Wilfried Bony looks dejected as he is substituted by manager Mark Hughes
The Hammers have been keen on signing the Ivorian on two separate occasions in the past without success.
West Ham co-owner David Sullivan admitted back in 2015 that he had wanted to sign Bony for £8 million the year before instead of buying Andy Carroll from Liverpool, as reported by the Telegraph at the time.
In the end Sam Allardyce vetoed the move and opted for the injury prone Geordie with Bony joining Swansea instead.
He later went on to join Manchester City for £30million but never really settled and soon found himself well down the pecking order at the Etihad.
The Hammers were in for him again in the summer and the striker wanted the move but in the end decided to move to Stoke City on loan so he did not have to uproot his children from school, as reported by the Daily Star.
Since then Bony has made just 11 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring two goals, and has not played for Mark Hughes’ side since December 27, before he travelled to the Africa Cup of Nations.
The 28-year-old – who has a clause in his contract allowing him to move to China should a club come in for him – has not even been on the bench in the last four games.
Unhappy: Bony has twice missed out on moves to West Ham
And now the striker will be experiencing a second dose of West Ham regret after telling The Mirror he should never had signed for the Potters.
“Not good at the moment, because it is a crazy situation,” he told The Mirror.
“The last time he says I need to be patient, but patient of what? I don’t know.
“I am not playing for no reason and since he spoke about the Chinese clause in my contract, I don’t play – it’s really strange.
“Yes of course (regret signing for Stoke). I do wonder sometimes why I came here.”
With Carroll and Diafra Sakho spending almost the entire season injured between them, Slaven Bilic could have done with an experienced Premier League goalscorer.
The Hammers have managed to get away with a lack of striking options yet again, though, and it seems any chance of Bony playing in the claret and blue has come and gone.
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