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Ivorian striker Wilfried Bony with the Manchester City jersey in 2015 at Etihad Stadium. Reuters / Andrew Yates

Le Havre has started testing Ivorian international striker Wilfried Bony, 31, currently free from contract. Bony has not played an official match since the African Cup quarter-final lost by Côte d'Ivoire to Algeria on July 11.

At 31, without a club since last summer, Wilfried Bony is looking for a new challenge. He has been training for several days with Le Havre. The days when he played in the Premier League, notably in Manchester City, are over. Since his visit to the Citizens, Bony has not been able to find a real base, sailing between Swansea (D2 English) and Al Arabi in Qatar on loan.

" He's a player who has references "

Le Havre coach Paul Le Guen spoke about the test of the former Vitesse player in the Netherlands. " He hasn't played for a while, so he's not in perfect physical condition, but he's not that far away ," explains the technician. It fits very well. You are talking about a week-long trial, I would like to continue a little, I will talk about it with him. I think he feels good here and we feel good with him. (…) He is a player who has references and that is immediately felt during training. I spoke with him by phone and by message, I felt that he had become a supporter of HAC for a few weeks. I offered to come here, I told him that we would take good care of him to get him back in shape. He plays the game, he is very pleasant and we will see what we want to do together . "

Best performances in the Netherlands

International Ivorian since 2010, Wilfried Bony participated in the 2014 World Cup as well as in four African Nations Cups with the “Elephants”. The one who was the victim in February 2018 of a cruciate ligament rupture had lifted the continental trophy in 2015 in Equatorial Guinea. The striker (58 caps, 18 goals) has not played an official match since the African Cup quarter-final lost by Côte d'Ivoire to Algeria on July 11 in Egypt.

During the 2012-2013 season, Bony had a string of performances in the Netherlands, which allowed him to receive the Golden Shoe for best player in the Dutch championship (31 goals in 30 games). Then he signed at Swansea City. A transfer estimated at around 13 million euros, enough to become the most expensive player in the history of the Welsh club.

In January 2015, he signed with Manchester City for four and a half years. He played 115 matches during his stay in the UK. Now he's looking for a new place to bounce back.