Friday 9 January 2015 14:13, UK
Manchester City must wait a little longer before completing the signing of Swansea striker Wilfried Bony.
Swansea paid Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem £12m for the Ivory Coast international but he is now valued in the region of £30m.
The exact fee to be paid remains a stumbling block but Sky Sports News HQ have spoken to sources at the two clubs and both remain keen to see the deal go through.
City are in no rush to complete the deal though, with Bony away this country at the Africa Cup of Nations for at least the next three weeks.
Garry Monk’s side are in a strong negotiating position, with Bony having signed a contract extension to keep him at the Liberty Stadium until 2018 only seven weeks ago.
Bony has scored 34 goals in 70 appearances for Swansea since he moved to south Wales in July 2013.
City manager Pellegrini says he does intend to sign a striker – but would not confirm it is Bony.
"I don't talk about rumours. We are going to replace Alvaro Negredo because it was the decision that we've taken that we're going to sell him," he said.
"We said we'd see in December if we need another striker. We need another striker so we are going to find which is the best player to play here."
Negredo's loan move to Valencia, which is due to become permanent in the summer, left City with only three experienced strikers for the first part of the season.
City's transfer dealings are complicated by the restrictions placed on them after they failed to comply with Financial Fair Play rules.
The club's outlay across the summer and winter transfer windows cannot exceed £50m once money from sales is taken into account.
Paying £30million for Bony would take them over that but Pellegrini believes selling Negredo will give them leeway without having to let go of other players.
He said: "We must be in FFP so I don't think we are going to spend a lot. We sell already Alvaro Negredo so we have some money to spend."
