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With his Swansea contract running out in June, Wilfried Bony could easily have stayed at the club, making an appearance here or there and cashing in his paycheque for the next six months.

However, that’s not who he is, and when the option to play regular football, albeit in Qatar, presented itself, he didn’t really think twice about it.

Swansea, despite fielding him seven times in the Championship, for which he repaid them with one goal, agreed to let him go, perhaps glad to get his salary off the wage bill for the next six months.

Either way, the Ivory Coast international is now at Al Arabi, and he’s pretty pleased about it, as he told Sport-Ivoire, where he explained what the transfer was.

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He said: “It’s a loan and not a transfer. I needed somewhere to play games to forget my long time on the sidelines. The Qatar opportunity came along and I’m here to be happy again. It’s just a loan until the end of the season.”

As for how the transfer came about: “It was the easiest thing in the world to complete. The opportunity came and I took it, but I’m still a Swansea player since my contract runs out in June. After that, I’ll be a free agent.”

One thing Bony isn’t thinking about at the age of 30 is retiring, because he ‘still wants to play’.

His next game? February 14th, a year to the day since he underwent surgery to repair the cruciate ligaments in his knee.