The race for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko’ signature is heating up this summer with Manchester City currently in the driving seat. However other clubs that have previously been linked with the Bosnian striker like Chelsea and Tottenham could be looking to steal a march on City.
The 24-year-old finished as the Bundesliga’s top scorer this season with 22 goals to his name. Last season he scored 26 goals and that was only bettered by his team mate Grafite with 28, and together they formed the most successful strike duo in Bundesliga history, in what was a title winning season for Wolfsburg. Scoring 48 goals in two seasons for an unfancied side is an amazing achievement, and it was largely due to the lethal form of Dzeko and Grafite that the side managed to win the Bundesliga title in 2009.
He almost single-handed led his country to World Cup qualification by becoming the joint-second highest goalscorer in World Cup qualifying tying with Wayne Rooney on nine goals, only to be beaten by Greece’s Theofanis Gekas who scored 10. Unfortunately for Dzeko, Bosnia and Herzegovina finished second in their group behind Spain but lost out to Portugal in the play-offs. His overall international scoring record is fantastic with 15 goals in 24 appearances, and for a very average Bosnia side that is exceptional.
A somewhat of an unknown quantity on these shores, Dzeko is a towering forward at 6ft 4in and a lot of his goals have come from his head, but also is comfortable with the ball at his feet and has a few bags of tricks. He has been likened to Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but his finishing looks to be far superior to the Swede’s, whose finishing isn’t his greatest quality. Dzeko has a naturalness about his play and just seems to know where the back of the net is every time he gets into the box. His style of play looks as though he would have no problems settling in to the Premier League.
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New Wolfsburg manager Steve McClaren will be desperate to hang on to Dzeko but after three years with the German club his time with them looks to be coming to an end, however a possible deal with City has stalled after the club have asked for £34m and Roberto Mancini apparently values Dzeko at £20-25m. The man who first brought him to Wolfsburg, title-winning former manager Felix Magath, said of Dzeko:
“He is just the right striker that any club could wish for”.
Certainly that’s why Man City and Chelsea should be doing everything they can to sign him. Dzeko would fit in well in both sides as they both need a player like him; firstly Chelsea’s strikers are getting on with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka turning 32 and 31 in March respectively. As for Man City, apart from Carlos Tevez none of their strikers have been brilliant this season and could do with a natural finisher upfront to compliment the Argentine. With Spurs apart from Defoe none of their strikers have been prolofic either and Harry Redknapp will be looking to add some firepower to his forward line so they can stay in contention for fourth place.
Whoever does manage to land Dzeko this summer, whether it be Chelsea, Man City, Spurs or someone else, they are going to have a very special player on their hands capable of delivering success.
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