Manchester City's Wilfried Bony confirms he contracted malaria
Saturday 17 October 2015 19:26, UK
Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony has confirmed that he did contract malaria in the summer.
Bony - who scored twice in City's 5-1 hammering of Bournemouth on Saturday - was unable to travel on City's pre-season tour of Australia and Vietnam because of the disease.
City did not reveal the full reason for Bony's absence at the time other than to say the Ivory Coast international was ill.
But after manager Manuel Pellegrini mentioned it in a press conference this week as he spoke about Bony's various injury and illness problems, the 26-year-old has spoken about his condition.
He said: "I got malaria from Africa when I was coming back but I am okay now."
Until Saturday, he had struggled to make an impact since his £25m move from Swansea in January.
Bony's debut was first delayed by his involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations and he has since also been hampered by injuries.
He now intends to make up for lost time.
He said: "I feel I have turned the corner. I have had a lot of injuries and been sick, and feel that is all away from me now.
"I just want to do my job, do my best in training and score when I get my chance in the match. Every striker is happy when he scores, especially when the team wins."
