WILFRIED Bony has thanked Newport County AFC for helping him earn his next move after signing for NEC Nijmegen.

The 33-year-old striker will play in the Eredivisie, the top flight in the Netherlands, until the end of the season.

Former Swansea City favourite Bony had been without a club since leaving Saudi Professional League side Al Ittihad in November 2020.

The Ivory Coast forward trained with County in the summer of 2019 while mulling over his next move and returned to Newport last year to stay sharp while also passing on advice to the club's youngsters.

Bony thanked the Exiles after landing a move that will see him face big guns Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord.

"I trained with Newport County, and I just want to thank them," said the frontman, whose Swans exploits earned a big-money move to Manchester City.

"They allowed me train with them all the time, so it was very important for me to keep fit until the moment arrived for me to be playing again.

"For the time, I'm not able to play for 90 minutes already, but in time, because I'm starting training already, I will very soon be playing 90 minutes."