Wilfried Bony: Ivory Coast striker leaves Swansea alongside several senior players
- Published
Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony is to leave Swansea City, alongside club captain Leroy Fer.
Two more players whose contracts are up next month, Sweden defender Martin Olsson and Dutch wing Luciano Narsingh, will also depart on free transfers.
Between them, the quartet cost Swansea more than £20m in transfer fees.
Swansea have also announced that Wayne Routledge has been released, but the veteran winger could yet be offered a new deal.
Bony was expected to leave after joining Al-Arabi on loan in January, Fer and Olsson had injury problems in 2018-19, while Narsingh was barely used by manager Graham Potter, who is wanted by Brighton and Hove Albion as their new boss.
Swansea have been cutting costs since relegation from the Premier League 12 months ago, and the exits of Fer, Bony, Olsson and Narsingh will take a significant chunk off their wage bill.
Routledge may also go, but his future is up in the air for now.
Swansea have held talks with the 34-year-old and could offer him a contract if and when the likes of Andre Ayew, Jordan Ayew and Borja Baston - who have all been out on oan this season - move on this summer.
Bony endured a miserable second spell at Swansea having returned to the club from Manchester City in a deal thought to be worth £12m in August 2016.
The 30-year-old striker scored only four goals in 26 appearances during an injury-hit stint at the Liberty Stadium, where he had thrived between 2013 and 2015 to earn a £28m move to Manchester.
Fer was appointed skipper by Potter last summer, but his contribution was limited by a succession of injury problems.
The Netherlands midfielder, 29, came close to joining Aston Villa in January, and departs having scored 10 goals in 101 appearances since joining Swansea in February 2016.
Left-back Olsson made 75 appearances for Swansea, scoring twice, after joining for around £4m from Norwich in January 2017.
The Swedish international - who played at the 2018 World Cup - was a reliable performer in Swans colours but has not played since suffering a ruptured Achilles in December.
Narsingh signed in the same window as Olsson, arriving from PSV Eindhoven for a fee of around £4m.
But the 16-cap Netherlands player made little impact in Wales, scoring just two goals in 40 appearances - only eight of which were league starts.
Swansea have already seen on-loan defender Cameron Carter-Vickers return to Spurs this summer, while young professionals Adam King, Tyler Reid, Aaron Lewis, Ryan Blair, Keston Davies, Adnan Maric and Jack Withers have been released.