Manchester City up interest in Swansea striker Wilfried Bony

MANCHESTER CITY have stepped up their interest in Swansea striker Wilfried Bony as they consider bolstering their attacking options for the assault for silverware at home and abroad.

Head scout Gary Worthington were watching Bony at Anfield on Monday night

Director of football Txiki Begiristain and head scout Gary Worthington were at Anfield on Monday and are believed to have been checking on the Ivory Coast star in the 4-1 defeat to Liverpool.

City have been forced to play James Milner as a makeshift forward in recent games with Sergio Aguero recovering from damaged knee ligaments and Edin Dzeko nursing a calf strain. Stevan Jovetic only returned from injury in the 2-2 draw with Burnley after three weeks out.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini has been a striker light since Alvaro Negredo moved to Valencia at the start of the season and knows reinforcements will help shape their Premier League and Champions League ambitions.

Bony, who signed a one-year extension to his contract in November keeping him at the club until 2018, has managed eight top flight strikes this season and outscored every other striker in the Premier League in 2014 when plundering 20 goals.

He has been included in the Ivory Coast squad for the African Nations Cup finals in Equatorial Guinea which runs from January 17 through to February 8. City star Yaya Toure is also in the squad.