Wilfried Bony: Swansea City 'must hold on to striker' this summer

Wilfried Bony and Gervinho scored in Ivory Coast's 2-1 win against Japan.

Swansea boss Garry Monk must make keeping striker Wilfried Bony his number one priority, says former Wales international Mickey Thomas.

Bony scored 25 goals for the Swans last season and has been linked with a move away from the Liberty Stadium.

Thomas said Swansea need to spend in the transfer market, but the 25-year-old should be Monk's main focus.

"That is the main priority for Garry Monk - to keep hold of his main striker and build around him," he added.

Bony scored Ivory Coast's first goal as they came back to beat Japan 2-1 in their Group C opener in Brazil.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton and Borussia Dortmund are among the clubs who have been linked with him but the striker said in May he would be happy to see out the remaining three years of his contract with the Welsh club.

The Ivorian, the Welsh club's top-scorer last season following his record £12m move from Vitesse Arnhem, would only leave Swansea for a top six club, according to his agent Dalibor Lacina.

Monk has previously insisted Bony will be staying at the Liberty Stadium, saying: "He's part of our future and someone that we want to progress with and help build the team with."

Thomas also said he expects Swansea to struggle in their opening fixture at Manchester United on the opening day of the 2014/15 Premier League season.

The fixture list was published on Wednesday and Swansea were handed a tough trip to face the 13-times Premier League champions.

Manchester United will also have a new manager in Louis van Gaal and Thomas said he fears the Swans could suffer another opening day thrashing by the Red Devils following last season's 4-1 loss.

"It's a massive game for Swansea, we know on the opening fixture last season that they got beat by four goals to one; I think there could be a repeat of that." he said.