Wilfried Bony speculation will continue says Garry Monk

Wilfried Bony has scored 20 Premier League goals for the Swans - a club record he shares with Spanish forward Michu

Swansea boss Garry Monk says speculation about striker Wilfried Bony's future will not stop, despite the Ivorian agreeing a new deal.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham were all reported to be interested in the 25-year-old in the summer.

Bony has signed a one-year contract extension, which could keep him at the Premier League club until 2018.

"I don't think any contract that you sign will ever stop speculation," said Monk.

"But what it does, is just show the commitment from Bony to the club and to his team-mates, to the fans and from the club and vice versa.

"We are happy to have him and he's happy to be here which is the main point."

Bony scored 25 goals in his first season after signing for a club record £12m from Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem, and scored twice for the Ivory Coast at the World Cup finals in Brazil.

He has netted four times this season and helped his country reach the finals of the 2015 African Nations Cup after the 0-0 draw with Cameroon in the Ivorian capital Adidjan.

That result means Swansea are likely to be without the striker when the finals take place in January and February 2015.

"I think it's a bit bittersweet really," said Monk.

"Obviously I'm happy for Bony. . . but from our point of view it's disappointing to lose him for that amount of games.

"All credit to him, we have to wish him well and obviously in that period we have other players ready to step in and hopefully they'll do enough to do a good job."

Swansea are currently fifth in the Premier League, three points behind third placed Manchester City, who they face away on Saturday 22 November.

Monk is expecting a "tough" challenge against the defending champions, but hopes his side can follow up the 2-1 victory over Arsenal in their last league match, with another positive result.

"It's obviously a tough place to go, they've got an extremely good squad, they're the defending champions, it's an extremely tough proposition for us, but one that we look forward to," said Monk.

"It's something for the players to relish. It's a challenge for them to see how far they've come as individuals and also as a group."

"They are very strong and I'm pretty sure that they'll come back looking at this game as a good chance for them to get three points.

"But we have to go up there and make sure that we put a performance on that can hopefully warrant points for ourselves."